Americans don’t trust Trump — or any federal government institution — to handle key issues
Plus, polling on the Founders at 250, the 2028 primaries, and how people put on their shoes
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The second Trump administration has been beleaguered in recent months with accusations of corruption. News about President Donald Trump’s stock trades, contracts for companies in which his family members have a personal stake, and his deal with the Department of Justice to drop tax audits of himself and his family and create an “anti-weaponization fund” (which is rumored to give money to people who participated in the riots on January 6, 2021), among other things, seem to have increased in volume. Of course, none of this is new for the president: he famously launched a memecoin days before his inauguration, which quickly shot up in price to $44 (that coin now trades for $1.90).
With the drumbeat of these stories in the background, how are Americans feeling about corruption in the government? Today on The Trendline, we’re taking a look at how Americans feel about ethics and corruption in government, and how much trust they have in key institutions more broadly.
While stories about alleged corruption in the federal government may be more frequent than in the past, voters already believe politicians are corrupt. In an October 2025 survey from Tavern Research/The Searchlight Institute, 71 percent of respondents said that a typical politician is likely to be corrupt, while just 16 percent said a typical politician is not likely to be corrupt. So while recent stories about corruption may seem extreme, voters already expect politicians to engage in corrupt behavior.
Indeed, in a world where public trust in the government has been eroding for decades, politicians stand out as a particular culprit. In a recent Data for Progress poll (Apr. 17 - 20, 2026), just 27 percent of likely voters said that they trust politicians somewhat or a great deal, while 69 percent said they don’t trust politicians very much or at all, putting politicians underwater on trust by 42 percentage points. For comparison, in the same survey corporations were underwater by 24 points.
When it comes to the president specifically, majorities of Americans say they do not trust Trump at all on key issues facing the nation.
In a YouGov poll conducted in late February/early March, of 21 issues asked, at least 50 percent of respondents had no trust in the president on all but four. In the same survey, 54 percent of respondents said that the word “corrupt” applied “a lot” to Trump, and another 15 percent said it applied “a little.”
Of course, the word “corruption” is vague. In the Tavern Research/Searchlight Institute poll, voters were asked what they mean when they use the word “corruption,” and responses varied. While the most common response was using “public office for personal financial gain,” only 31 percent of voters said that was what they meant by corruption.
And when it comes to using office for personal financial gain specifically, Trump is also underwater. In a YouGov/The Economist poll (May 15 - 18, 2026), 59 percent of respondents said he was using his office for personal gain, while just 30 percent said he wasn’t.
Of course, the problem of low trust in institutions is not isolated to politicians. In an RMG Research/Napolitan News Service poll (May 18 - 19, 2026), voters were asked more generally how often they “trust the federal government to do the right thing.” Only 5 percent said they trust the federal government “just about all of the time,” and 19 percent said they trust the federal government “most of the time.” Another 43 percent said “only some of the time,” and 31 percent said “rarely or never.”
This distrust also extends to agencies of the federal government and other institutions in American life. In an Atlas Intel poll (May 4 - 7, 2026), majorities of Americans said they had little or no trust in ICE, the FBI, universities, mainstream media, the Supreme Court, Congress, and tech companies. The only institution Americans have net positive trust for is “local law enforcement” — at a not-great-but-not-terrible +18.
Taken all together, it’s no surprise that this high level of distrust also coincides with dissatisfaction with American democracy. In a University of Maryland survey (Mar. 11 - 19, 2026), 78 percent of respondents said that the government in DC is “run by a few big interests looking out for themselves,” while just 22 percent said it was “run for the benefit of all the people.” In a Navigator Research poll (May 13 - 16, 2026), 75 percent of respondents said American democracy is completely or somewhat broken.
Despite all this low trust and pessimism, though, Americans are at least somewhat optimistic that things could change. In the University of Maryland poll, 62 percent said that members of congress often or almost always “put a higher priority on serving the interests of organizations and individuals who have donated money to their election, rather than serving the good of the country.” But in the very next question, a slim majority (52 percent) said that “over the next decades” it is somewhat or very likely that “leaders in the US government will serve the common good of the people more than they do now.”
Rather than indicating pure optimism, however, perhaps these numbers also reflect how poorly Americans view the current system: when you’re at rock bottom, there’s nowhere to go but up.
Other polling nuggets
As the country nears its 250th birthday, a University of Maryland Program for Public Consultation survey (Mar. 11 - 19, 2026) found that 63 percent of Americans believe the Founders would say today’s government is doing a poor job of fulfilling their vision, including half of Republicans. After weighing arguments on both sides, an overwhelming 85 percent — including 86 percent of both Republicans and Democrats — said they’d favor having elected leaders regularly consult representative samples of the public on policy, and 78 percent said the Founders would approve.
The 2028 shadow primaries are underway, and the betting favorites have work to do, according to a new Overton Insights poll (May 16 - 20, 2026): Vice President JD Vance leads the GOP field at 39 percent but loses one-on-one to Marco Rubio (42 to 36 percent), while Pete Buttigieg leads a scattered Democratic field at 16 percent and AOC tops Gavin Newsom head-to-head. The same survey put Trump’s approval at just 32 percent — and found that 54 percent of Democrats believe the recent attempts on his life were staged.
Americans doubt Washington will keep AI in check: in a CBS News/YouGov poll (May 13 - 15, 2026), two-thirds said U.S. government policy probably or certainly will not ensure AI is used appropriately, a view shared across age and education groups and by both Democrats and independents (Republicans were split). Asked why AI companies push the technology, big majorities cited self-interested motives like accruing power and replacing workers, and a majority expected AI to cost the U.S. jobs.
In perhaps the week’s most consequential polling, YouGov asked 6,882 Americans how they put on their shoes (May 27, 2026). Sixty-four percent say they do so sitting down, whereas 32 percent get ready standing up, and 4 percent weren’t sure. But the same respondents also reported that 66 percent usually wear laced shoes — and since only 64 percent sit, at least 2 percent of Americans are out there lacing up without sitting down to tie their shoes. We salute them; they must be very flexible, or absolutely destroying the tabs behind their ankles (we are pollsters, we don’t know what that’s called).
Polling averages update
All numbers are as of 12:00 PM Eastern on May 29, 2026.
2026 U.S. House generic ballot
The Democratic margin in the 2026 U.S. House generic ballot rounded up to 7 points for the first time this week (we also switched our model over from modeling the population of registered to likely voters this week). At writing, 49.1 percent of likely voters saying they’ll cast their ballot for Democrats this fall versus 42.4 percent for the Republicans. The Democratic margin is being driven both by higher-than-average partisan loyalty among Democrats and defection among Republicans, we report.
Trump’s job approval
President Trump’s approval rating among U.S. adults hovered around his all-time low of 36.5 percent in our average this week, while 59.8 percent say they disapprove.
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