Insights into Trump’s plans and policies, his behavior since the 2024 election

As President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House in January, Americans are sharply divided over his policies and plans for the future.

• A narrow majority of US adults (53%) say they approve of his plans, including 27% who strongly approve.
• 46% say they disapprove, including 30% who strongly disapprove.

Republicans and Democrats are deeply divided over the president-elect’s plans.

• 88% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say they approve of Trump’s plans, with more than half (54%) saying strong approve.
• 82% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters disapprove of Trump’s plans. About six in ten (59%) strong disapprove.

Confidence that the presidential transition will go smoothly

Unlike in 2020, a majority of Americans (70%) today are at least somewhat confident that the transition from the Biden administration to the Trump administration will be smooth, including 26% who are very confident.

Four years ago, only about a quarter of Americans (26%) were confident that there would be a smooth transition from the Trump administration to the incoming Biden administration.

Both Republicans and Democrats are more confident of an orderly transition now than they were in 2020.

• 79% of Republicans are very or somewhat confident of a smooth transition, up from 32% in 2020.
• Democrats are less confident than Republicans that the transition will go well (64% say they are very or somewhat confident), but the share who say so is about three times higher than it was in 2020 (21%).

Trump’s behavior since the election has been more positive than in 2020

Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have been getting similar marks from the public for their conduct since Election Day.

• 53% say Trump’s behavior has been good or excellent in the post-election period, while 45% say his behavior has been only fair or poor.
• 56% say Harris’ conduct has been excellent or good, while 42% say her conduct is only fair or poor.

Both Trump and Harris receive somewhat lower marks for their conduct than President Joe Biden received after the 2020 electionwhen 60 percent of adults said Biden’s conduct was excellent or good.

Ratings of Trump’s behavior are much more positive now than they were after the 2020 election.

The share of Americans who rate his behavior as excellent or good is 25 percentage points higher than it was in the 2020 post-election period, when just 28% viewed his behavior positively amid legal challenges to his campaign at the polls and the vote count in several states. .

Today, an overwhelming majority of Republicans (85%) give Trump positive marks for his behavior since November 5th. Four years ago, slightly more than half of Republicans (54%) characterized Trump’s behavior as excellent or good.

Democrats are overwhelmingly negative about Trump’s post-election behavior. However, 22% give positive ratings, which is up from just 6% four years ago.

Trump’s action to Harris supporters

Most Americans — regardless of political party — say it’s at least somewhat important that Trump reach out to Harris supporters to try to unite the country.

Overall, 22% say it is extremely important for Trump to reach out to Harris supporters, while 30% say it is very important. Three in ten say it is somewhat important to reach out, while only 17 percent say it is not very (10 percent) or not at all (7 percent) important for Trump to try to unify the country.

Democrats (58%) are slightly more likely than Republicans (48%) to say it is very or extremely important that Trump address Harris’ supporters.

Voters see Trump’s efforts to reach Harris’ supporters as lacking so far.

• Overall, only 31 percent of Americans view Trump’s efforts to reach Harris supporters as excellent (6 percent) or good (25 percent). About two-thirds say his efforts were only fair (28%) or poor (38%).
• Republicans are more positive about Trump’s outreach than Democrats: 54 percent of the GOP say he’s done a good or excellent job, while just 9 percent of Democrats say so. Two-thirds of Democrats say Trump’s efforts have been weak; only 10% of Republicans say the same.

Expectations for bipartisan relations in Washington

Nearly half of Americans (45%) expect relations between Republicans and Democrats in Washington to worsen in the coming year. By comparison, only 14% except relations between the two sides to improve, while 41% expect them to remain roughly the same.

More Americans expect party relations to worsen now than after the 2020 election (45% today vs. 37% then). Pessimism about relations between the two parties is now about on par with what it was after the 2018 midterm elections, when 44% expected it to worsen.

Democrats (69%) are more likely than Republicans (23%) to say they expect things to get worse between Republicans and Democrats in the next year. About half of Republicans (53%) expect things to stay the same, compared to 27% of Democrats. And while about a quarter of Republicans (23%) say partisan relations will improve next year, only 5% of Democrats say so.