In the face of one of the most polarizing moments in U.S. history, one measurement that offers insight into specific frustrations the public has is their trust in the government. In 2025, President Donald Trump’s first year of his second term, the level of trust Americans have in their government to do what they believe is right “always or most of the time” was at a significantly low point.
According to survey data aggregated by Pew Research Center from a variety of news organizations, National Election Studies, and Gallup, just 17% of Americans say they trust the federal government to do what is right just about always or most of the time.
Notably, when National Election Studies first began polling this question in 1958 during the Eisenhower administration, 73% had trust in the government to do what was right. At that time, the Space Race was heating up, Cold War tensions were escalating, and the Vietnam War was three years in.
Nearly seven decades later, public trust in the government has not exceeded 30% since 2007.
Trust has also fluctuated over time among the branches of government and specific governmental responsibilities, such as handling international and domestic problems.
While overall trust in the government was low in 2025, when Gallup asked people about their trust in the government to handle international problems, 45% said they had a “great deal or fair amount.” Yet, this number becomes vastly different when factoring in political party and party control. In 2025, with Trump in power, 84% of Republicans trusted the government to handle international problems, while in 2024, with President Joe Biden in power, only 20% had trust in the government.
This pattern rings true with each breakdown. Overall trust in the government to handle domestic problems in 2025 was 38%. But more specifically, in the same year, 13% of Democrats “have a great deal or fair amount of trust” in the government, whereas a year before, when Biden was president, 69% had trust in the government regarding its handling of domestic problems.
Fluctuations occur in trust in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches as well.
Data show less dependence on party control with trust in the judicial branch. In 2025 and 2024, 81% and 71% of Republicans, respectively, had trust in the judicial branch. In the same years, 24% and 23% of Democrats had a “great deal or fair amount of trust” in the judicial branch.
