Opinion Today
January 15, 2025
Trump will begin his presidency in delicate position, poll finds Domenico Montanaro, NPR News A new NPR/PBS News/Marist poll shows that Americans' support for President-elect Donald Trump's top priorities is split, despite his claims of a mandate for his agenda.
What Americans think about Hegseth, Rubio, Musk and RFK Jr. Matt Loffman, PBS NewsHour As make-or-break confirmation hearings begin for Trump Cabinet nominees, the latest PBS News/NPR/Marist poll finds that many Americans have yet to form opinions about two of his high-profile selections – Pete Hegseth and Sen. Marco Rubio.
Americans Divide About Mass Deportations, But More Than Six in Ten Oppose Pardon of January 6th Convictions Marist Institute for Public Opinion With days until President-elect Donald Trump takes the Oath of Office, Americans are divided about Trump’s proposed mass deportations of undocumented immigrants. However, more than six in ten Americans disapprove of Trump pardoning those convicted in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Americans also have high expectations for Trump on the economic front. Nearly Half of U.S. Says Healthcare Headed in Wrong Direction Sarah Fioroni, Gallup Nearly half of the U.S. public (46%) says the country is headed in the wrong direction when it comes to President-elect Donald Trump’s policies to lower the cost of healthcare, and about four in 10 say this for the cost of prescription drugs, according to a new West Health-Gallup survey.
Exclusive poll: For Trump, a strengthened hand but skepticism on tax cuts, tariffs Susan Page, Sudiksha Kochi and Cybele Mayes-Osterman, USA Today President-elect Donald Trump is in a stronger political position now than he was when he was poised to be sworn in for his first term, a new USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll finds, but he has yet to convince most Americans about the wisdom of some of his key campaign promises.
Jeffries? Newsom? AOC? No consensus, but Democrats want a new generation - Poll Susan Page, Cybele Mayes-Osterman and Sudiksha Kochi, USA Today There's no question who leads the GOP, a party that is now defined by President-elect Donald Trump. But who leads the Democrats? A new USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll found a broad consensus that it's time for a new generation of leaders to step up, even if there's no agreement on who, exactly, that should be.
The Democratic Party's leadership crisis: 'Don't know' and 'Nobody' outpoll pols David Paleologos, USA Today The Democratic Party has a leadership crisis in 2025. Don’t take my word for it, we polled the question last week. When asked to name the leader of the Democratic Party, nearly half of all registered voters nationally in our Suffolk University/USA TODAY couldn’t name a person or volunteered “Nobody.” AP-NORC Poll: Few approve of Hegseth’s nomination as Secretary of Defense AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research Only 19% of the public approve of Donald Trump’s nomination of Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense. Thirty-five percent disapprove and 33% say they don’t know enough to have an opinion.
What Americans think about Pete Hegseth, Trump’s defense secretary pick Linley Sanders, Associated Press A new poll finds only about 2 in 10 Americans approve of Pete Hegseth being nominated as the secretary of defense, a position that would put the 44-year-old Army National Guard veteran and former Fox News Channel weekend host in charge of overseeing U.S. troops.
Americans Use AI in Everyday Products Without Realizing It Ellyn Maese, Gallup Nearly all Americans use products that involve artificial intelligence (AI) features, but nearly two-thirds (64%) don’t realize it, according to a new study conducted in partnership with Telescope, an organization that works toward the responsible advancement of technology.
Global AI Optimism Increases as Usage Grows Kent Walker, Google & Alphabet A new global survey from Ipsos and Google, "Our Life with AI: From innovation to application," reveals that attitudes towards AI are trending more positive as its use grows. The survey of 21,000 people across 21 countries shows that global AI usage has jumped ten percentage points to 48% and excitement about AI’s potential now exceeds concerns (57% vs. 43%, up from 50% / 50% last year). Most Americans are unsatisfied with how much money they’ve saved, Yahoo Finance/Marist Poll 2025 survey shows Ivana Pino, Yahoo Finance Here’s what Americans say have been their biggest barriers to saving and how they feel about their finances heading into 2025.
The State of Savings Marist Institute for Public Opinion According to the Yahoo Finance/Marist Poll 2025 National Survey on the State of Savings, Americans in banked households are not turning cartwheels over the amount of money they have saved. In fact, only one in ten banked households nationally say they are completely satisfied with the amount of money they have put away, and about one in five say they have saved more in 2024 than in 2023. Still, a plurality of banked households report optimism about their future savings. AAPI adults prioritize immigration, but split on mass deportations: AP-NORC/AAPI Data poll Terry Tang and Linley Sanders, Associated Press Immigration is an issue that many Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders want the government to focus on this year, but they are sharply divided on what actions President-elect Donald Trump should take when he returns to the White House, according to a new poll. Voters Face Rising Home Insurance Costs and Prefer Resources for Public Over Private Insurance Data for Progress Data for Progress surveyed likely voters about their experiences with home insurance and their approval of policies that could help residents in at-risk communities. Alone in a Trumpian world: The EU and global public opinion after the US elections Timothy Garton Ash, Ivan Krastev & Mark Leonard, European Council on Foreign Relations When Donald Trump returns to the White House, much of the world will welcome him. In Europe, anxiety is widespread, but people in many other countries feel either relaxed or actively positive about Trump’s second term. This is the remarkable finding of a major new poll conducted in November 2024—directly after the US presidential election—for the European Council on Foreign Relations and Oxford University’s Europe in a Changing World research project.
Anatomy of the Women’s Vote in the 2024 Presidential Election Dante Chinni, American Communities Project The gender gap in American politics has become chasm in recent years and 2024 was no exception. In November, AP VoteCast, a survey of voters conducted on and around Election Day, found Republican President-elect Donald Trump won male voters by 12 percentage points, while Democratic nominee Kamala Harris won female voters by six percentage points. That adds up to an 18-point gender gap. But the idea that “women are Democrats” does not completely hold up when viewed through the 15 American Communities Project’s county types. Republicans’ mandate is a narrow one at best Natalie Jackson (GQR Research), National Journal We’re still basically a 50-50 country. Hegseth’s defense: Deny, blame and shrug Paul McLeary, Joe Gould and Connor O'Brien, Politico “How many senators have shown up drunk to vote at night?” one Republican senator asked in support of the Pentagon chief pick. Pete Hegseth Declines to Answer Jonathan Chait, The Atlantic [unlocked] Pete Hegseth, President-Elect Donald Trump’s choice for secretary of defense, was initially considered one of his most endangered nominees. But after the MAGA movement organized a campaign to threaten Republicans who expressed reservations about Hegseth’s fitness, criticism dried up quickly. “We gave the Senate an attitude adjustment,” Mike Davis, a Republican operative known for his florid threats to lock up Trump’s political targets, told Politico. That attitude adjustment was on vivid display in Hegseth’s confirmation hearing before the Armed Services Committee. The GOP Is No Longer the Party of National Security Tom Nichols, The Atlantic [unlocked] America’s allies and enemies watched as Trump’s pick for defense secretary failed to quell concerns about his character and qualifications. Hegseth Is Dangerous but Not for the Reasons You Think Ben Rhodes, New York Times As secretary of defense, Hegseth would channel his boss’s blend of jingoism and anger to fundamentally alter the character of the military. California's wildfire recovery faces political challenges in Republican-led Washington Faith E. Pinho, Los Angeles Times [via Yahoo] With President-elect Donald Trump about to take office, federal aid to fire-ravaged Los Angeles has already become entangled in a partisan political fight in Washington. Are We Sleepwalking Into Autocracy? Kim Lane Scheppele (Princeton) and Norman Eisen (Brookings Institution), New York Times [unlocked] Since Donald Trump’s election victory, we have witnessed striking accommodations to his narrow win and mandate, what has been called “anticipatory obedience.” Are we sleepwalking into an autocracy? We hope not, and would be glad if the threat does not materialize. But as close observers of people and places where democracy has come under pressure and occasionally buckled, we see creeping autocracy as a distinct and under-discussed possibility. Democrats Are the Opposition Party. Are They Going to Act Like It? Tinashe Chingarande and Evan McMorris-Santoro, NOTUS Democratic lawmakers tell NOTUS they’re going to be more willing to work with Republicans than Republicans were willing to work with them. Democrats’ Continued Fixation on Identity Politics Carries Risks Michael Baharaeen, The Liberal Patriot Early signs indicate the party isn’t feeling pressured to change course—again. The president who could not choose Dylan Matthews, Vox Joe Biden’s fatal flaw led to four years of weakness. One For The Books: Jack Smith’s Report, Volume 1 Harry Litman, Talking Feds Substack Smith's report provides some additional details, but its main point is its historical value. Why Didn’t Jack Smith Charge Trump With Insurrection? David A. Graham, The Atlantic [unlocked] The law simply wasn’t prepared for a sitting president who would attempt to steal an election. When norms lead you astray Seth Masket, Tusk The judicial system had good reason to follow this path, but look where it ended The smallest initial Senate battleground ever? Nathan L. Gonzales, Roll Call Just five seats are rated as competitive at the start of the 2026 cycle How to Fix America’s Two-Party Problem Jesse Wegman and Lee Drutman, New York Times [unlocked] Proportional representation could help restore American democracy. Society is making you sick, GOP says. Too bad their plans will make you sicker. Catherine Rampell, Washington Post “Make America Healthy Again” might be a laudable plan — if GOP policies didn’t contradict GOP goals. This is a call to arms. Just not a traditional one. Michael R. Bloomberg and David H. Berger, Washington Post [unlocked] Industrial decline threatens U.S. security. Here’s a plan to fix that. I was born liberal. The ‘adults in the room’ still have a lot to learn. Michael Ignatieff, Washington Post [unlocked] To rebuild liberalism, we’ll need to recover what the word used to mean.
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PLAYLIST
Biden Promised to ‘Turn the Page’ on Trump. What Went Wrong? The Ezra Klein Show Jake Sullivan is Biden’s national security adviser and one of the key architects of this foreign policy for the middle class. In this conversation, I ask him to walk me through why he thinks the country is better off today than it was four years ago. We discuss the status of America’s relationship with China and the risk of a future war; whether the U.S. should have used its leverage to force Ukraine to the negotiating table; how the enormous arms support of Israel serves U.S. interests; what Trump’s re-election says about Bidenism; and more.
Trending Right (with Jonathan Martin) Hacks On Tap This week, Axe and Heilemann are joined by fan favorite and all-around cool guy Jonathan Martin! The Hacks kick things off with a front-line report from Mike Murphy on the LA wildfires, unpacking the implications for the city and the state’s future. They also dive into the status of Trump’s nominees, the business world cozying up to Trump, Biden’s evolving legacy, and the escalating drama within Trump’s inner circle.