Washington (AP) According to a new poll from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, even though Americans recently elected Donald Trump to a second term, they do not believe that he will be able to manage the White House, the military, or government spending well or appoint qualified individuals to his Cabinet.
Despite Republicans controlling the Senate, roughly half of American adults do not have any faith in Trump’s ability to select qualified candidates for his Cabinet and other high-level government positions as he selects his candidates for important positions in his administration, some of whom may have to endure challenging confirmation battles in the Senate.
Trump’s promise to voters to be a disruptive force in the nation and a return to the tumultuous age of governance that characterized his first four years in the White House have been reflected in the selection process and its lightning-fast pace. Only around three out of ten Americans, however, feel extremely or very confident that Trump will appoint qualified individuals to his cabinet. According to the majority of Republicans, their confidence is high.
The Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, is a nongovernmental task force headed by billionaire Elon Musk and fellow entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy that is tasked with finding ways to fire federal employees, cut programs, and slash federal regulations. Trump has pledged to shake up Washington with an aggressive approach.
Beyond his appointments, however, the survey reveals a comparable degree of trust in Trump’s capacity to control government spending and carry out other crucial presidential duties, such as managing the White House and the military, which saw a high level of staff turnover during Trump’s first term, especially in its early years.
President Joe Biden, who entered office with greater confidence in some areas than others, did not face that exact dilemma four years ago.
Trump’s leadership is most likely to be questioned by Democrats and independents.
In general, Democrats and independents are the ones who are responsible for this lack of confidence. A significant portion of Democrats have doubts about Trump’s competence on all of these fronts; around three-quarters have no confidence whatsoever in his ability to run the White House, control government spending or the military, or appoint qualified members to his Cabinet.
In contrast, roughly two out of ten independents say they are extremely or very confidence in Trump’s ability to carry out each of these duties, while four out of ten say they are only somewhat or not at all confident.
Although Republican confidence has increased, it is still not very strong.
Although Republicans are more confident, their misgivings are not as strong as Democrats’. Approximately 60% of Republicans feel extremely or very confident in Trump’s abilities to manage the White House, the military, and government spending, as well as select qualified individuals to serve in his Cabinet. In each situation, around two out of ten Republicans are moderately confident, and another two out of ten are either slightly or not at all sure.
Biden had comparable challenges when he first took office.
People had some concerns about Biden’s ability to handle some of his key obligations when he started office in 2021, but they were more confident in Biden’s ability to accomplish some things than others, in contrast to Trump, who is pretty even-handed when it comes to different chores. Biden ran the 2020 campaign mostly on his decades of experience in the U.S. Senate and his eight years as President Barack Obama’s vice president when he took office.
People were more confident in Biden’s ability to manage the White House and select qualified candidates for his Cabinet than in his ability to oversee government spending and the military, according to a separate AP-NORC poll that was conducted shortly after Biden took office and asked the question slightly differently.
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Using a sample selected from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is intended to be representative of the U.S. population, the survey of 1,251 adults was carried out between December 5–9, 2024. Overall, individuals have a sample error margin of plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.
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