Around seven-in-ten Americans (69%) say President Donald Trump is trying to exert more power than his predecessors. And most of those who say this describe Trump’s efforts as a bad thing for the country. Overall, 49% of U.S. adults say Trump is trying to exercise more presidential power than previous presidents and that this is bad for the country. A much smaller share (12%) say he is trying to use more power and view this as good for the country.

Pew Research Center conducted this study to assess the public’s attitudes of President Donald Trump’s performance in office and use of executive authority.

For this analysis, we surveyed 3,445 adults from Sept. 22 to 28, 2025. Everyone who took part in this survey is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), a group of people recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses who have agreed to take surveys regularly. This kind of recruitment gives nearly all U.S. adults a chance of selection. Interviews were conducted either online or by telephone with a live interviewer. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education, presidential vote (among voters) and other factors. Read more about the ATP’s methodology.

Here are the questions used for this analysis, the topline and the survey methodology.