Critical Issues Poll Shares Americans’ Early Outlook on the New Administration
The Majority of Americans are Worried, Particularly Democrats and Independents
Fifty-four percent of the U.S. adults who participated in the latest University of Maryland Critical Issues Poll expressed concern regarding their outlook on President Trump’s new administration; 40% said they were “very worried” while 14% said they were “somewhat worried.”
The poll of 1,005 people, which was fielded by SSRS on its Opinion Panel Omnibus platform from February 7-February 9, 2025, found that Democrats (90%) and independents (54%) were significantly more worried than those who identified as Republicans, among whom 17% said they are worried, and 77% that they are hopeful.
Overall, 37% of respondents said they were hopeful, including 23% who were “very hopeful” and 14% were “somewhat hopeful.” Only 6% of Democrats and 35% of independents said they are hopeful.
“The gap between worry and hope—17%—about the Trump administration so early in its term could be a sign of trouble ahead. While the large majority of Democrats expressing worry is hardly surprising, the majority of independents and 17% of Republicans expressing worry indicate concern,” said Critical Issues Poll Director and Department of Government and Politics Professor Shibley Telhami.
When respondents were asked to select the three out of 16 issues that they are most worried about, as well as the three issues that they feel most hopeful about, the “overall economy” was the most popular pick for both the worry list—where it was selected by 27% of people—and the hopeful list, where it was selected by 37% of people.
On the worry list, “U.S. involvement in international conflicts/war” and “immigration and deportations” both received 20% of the votes in a tie for second place. Those issues were followed closely by respondent’s concerns about “reproductive rights” (18%), “First Amendment rights” (18%), and “minority groups” (17%).
On the list of issues that respondents felt the most hopeful about, “immigration and deportation” (35%), “First Amendment rights” (16%), “U.S. involvement in international conflicts/war” (16%), and “federal agencies and departments” (15%) all followed the “overall economy.”
Though not perfect inverses, many of the issues Democrats' said they found most worrisome—the “overall economy” (35%), “reproductive rights” (28%), “immigration and deportation” (28%), “First Amendment rights” (26%) and “minority groups” (25%)—were among the list of issues Republican respondents felt most hopeful about—the “overall economy” (65%), “immigration and deportation” (63%), “First Amendment rights” (28%), “federal agencies and departments” (24%), and “US involvement in international conflicts/war” (23%).
On foreign issues, 46% of respondents said that the likelihood of war with Iran has increased under Trump. Three in ten respondents said that likelihood has neither increased nor decreased, and one-quarter said that the likelihood has decreased.
Thirty-one percent of respondents said they feel the need to be extra careful when criticizing Israel, the Palestinians, or U.S. policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian issue; among those 39% worry about criticizing Israel. Twenty-two percent said that they feel the need to be extra careful when criticizing Russia, Ukraine, or U.S. policy when discussing the Russia-Ukraine conflict; among those, a majority, (52%) say they worry about criticizing U.S. policy.
“The findings show that Americans are now feeling the need to be more careful criticizing U.S. policy toward Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Palestine when speaking publicly about these issues, in comparison to a year ago,” said Telhami. “Among those who feel the need to be careful when discussing Russia and Ukraine, the percentage of those worried about criticizing U.S. policy went up from 33% last year to 52% this year; and among those who feel the need to be careful when discussing Israel-Palestine the percentage of those worried about criticizing the U.S. went up from 18% to 35%.”
Learn More about the Critical Issues Poll
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Published on Thu, Feb 27, 2025 - 3:40PM