Elon University has just revealed the findings of a new national poll the school conducted regarding a wide variety of issues related to the first 100 days of the administration of President Donald Trump.
The president has spoken out recently about some new polls that showed his popularity sliding. While he hasn’t specifically addressed lesser-known polls such as Elon University’s, he lashed out earlier this week against a Fox News Channel poll after it found record-low approval ratings after the beginning stint of his second term as president that began on June 20.
Trump posted the following on his Truth Social platform after the Fox News poll came out: “Rupert Murdoch has told me for years that he is going to get rid of his Fox News, Trump Hating, Fake Pollster, but he has never done so…This ‘pollster’ has gotten me, and MAGA, wrong for years.”
Trump maintains that his popularity is very high in the “real” polls, and many of his supporters have questioned the methodology of the polls that show Trump with declining numbers on the economy, overall approval, and other areas.
The new national poll from Elon found that Americans have “significant public concern about the balance of power between the executive branch and the courts” – with 67% of Americans expressing their concerns about a potential constitutional crisis that could arise from a conflict between the Trump administration and the courts.
Trump has stated publicly that he will follow the orders of the US Supreme Court.
Despite that, about two-thirds of Americans fear a constitutional crisis between Trump and the courts.
The poll surveyed 1,000 American adults nationwide during the period of April 10 through April 17, with a focus on the growing conflict between the Trump administration and the courts – largely due to Trump’s use of executive orders along with judicial rulings that delay or block Trump’s hoped-for actions.
The poll notes, “By April 22, the non-partisan law and policy journal, Just Security, had documented 206 legal challenges against Trump administration actions, and a tracking effort by the New York Times found that at least 98 judicial rulings had at least temporarily paused some of the administration’s efforts.”
The Elon poll found that Trump’s approval rating has declined in recent months, with 41% approving of his job performance and 47% disapproving. That compares with a 45% approval and a 41% disapproval rating in the February 2025 Elon University Poll.
The new poll also found that Americans are split on Trump’s executive actions. The results are as follows:
- Overall, 47% of respondents believe President Trump’s executive orders have mostly gone too far, while 36% believe they have mostly been correct. Not surprisingly, those results differ along party lines: An overwhelming 83% of Democrats said that Trump’s orders have gone too far, while 73% of Republicans said Trump’s actions have mostly been correct.
Jason Husser, the director of the new Elon University Poll, said the survey found caution about presidential overreach even among some of Trump’s backers.
“Despite declining trust in the Supreme Court over the decades,” Husser said, “we are finding that even many of President Trump’s supporters have some pause when it comes to conflicts between the executive and judicial branch. Less than a majority of Republicans (40%) thought the executive branch should have authority to ignore court rulings that it believes are bad for the country. Meanwhile, a slim majority of Republicans (52%) thought the judiciary had the right amount of power.”
As for the methodology, “The survey was developed by the Elon University Poll and fielded by the international marketing and polling firm YouGov as an online, web-based survey, self-administered with online panels. Between April 10 and April 17, YouGov interviewed 1,149 U.S. adults aged 18 and older. These respondents were then matched down to a sample of 1,000 to produce the final dataset.”
You can access the poll’s topline and methodology at: www.elon.edu/elonpoll.
The margin of error for this poll – adjusted for weights – is +/-3.58%.
As for the powers of the three branches of government, only 10% said the current system of checks and balances is very effective, while 34% said it’s somewhat effective, and 32% said it is somewhat or very ineffective.
When it comes to government powers, 46% of respondents stated that they believe the executive branch has too much power, compared with 27% who said the judiciary is too powerful and 19% who said the legislative branch has too much power.
Democrats polled were particularly concerned about a constitutional crisis – which would occur if the president and his administration defied a court order outright.
Among Democrats, 88% expressed concern over a Constitutional crisis – compared with 61% of Independents and 51% of Republicans.
The poll found 54% of Americans believe the executive branch “should not have authority to override or ignore court rulings it believes are bad for the country, while 24% believe it should have this power.”
Of course, not all responders believe Trump should always be subject to the law: In fact, as noted above, the Elon poll found that 40% of Republicans said the president “should have the authority to ignore court rulings.”
That compares with 33% who opposed that power; 78% of Democrats and 53% of Independents said the president should not be able to override the courts.
It’s virtually impossible to imagine any set of circumstances that would lead the current US Senate or US House of Representatives to impeach Trump, however, the Elon poll did ask about that.
It found:
- On impeachment, 37% believe Congress should impeach a president who does not obey a court order, 14% believe it should not, and 40% say it depends on the issue at stake.
- Conversely, only 14% believe Congress should impeach federal judges who block executive actions, while 35% say no, and 39% say it depends on the issue.
As for pardon powers, 42% believe presidents should have the power to pardon people convicted of federal crimes, while 33% disagree. Right at 46% oppose presidential immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts, while 31% support it.
The poll also addressed President Trump’s executive orders penalizing law firms that represent clients who have challenged his policies. The penalties in the orders included withholding government contracts and security clearances and restricting access to government buildings.
Here’s what the poll found regarding those matters:
- 50% of Americans believe these actions are an attempt to intimidate lawyers into not opposing him, while 34% believe Trump is trying to prevent abuse of the legal system by lawyers.
The Elon poll notes that the views came down heavily along party lines – with 85% of Democrats seeing the president’s orders as intimidation compared with just 19% of Republicans.
Zak Kramer, dean of the Elon University School of Law, said it’s clear the opinions in the poll reflect party differences.
“Americans are clearly questioning whether the rule of law and our constitutional structure are built to withstand the pressures of the current political moment,” Kramer said. “There’s a lot of uncertainty about how these disputes will turn out, and things are moving fast, so we shouldn’t be surprised that most Americans view these questions through a heavily polarized lens.”
Trump has been highly critical of the US court system, especially during his current term, and the poll found Americans split on the question as to whether they have confidence in the US Supreme Court – with 51% saying they have a great deal or a fair amount of confidence in the high court and 49% saying they have little or no confidence.
The poll notes that “A strong majority of Republicans (72%) expressed some measure of confidence in the Supreme Court compared with only 35% of Democrats and 39% of Independents.”
Across all demographics, Americans think the Supreme Court leans conservative, with only 21% saying the court is balanced, compared with 42% who think the court is conservative and only 12% who say it’s liberal.
In other findings of the poll:
- Overall, 69% of Americans said the president should not influence cases or the daily operations of the Department of Justice. Only 13% of those responding thought that kind of involvement by the president is proper. This principle is supported by large majorities of both Democrats (83%), Independents (65%) and Republicans (61%).
In the past, Trump claimed that the US Department of Justice has been weaponized against him; however, only 38% of poll respondents said that was actually been the case: 43% think his allegations against the previous department are unfounded.
Established 25 years ago, the Elon University Poll conducts national and North Carolina surveys on “issues of importance to voters and residents.”
Information from these polls is then shared with the media, the public and elected leaders “to facilitate informed public policy making through the better understanding of citizens’ opinions and attitudes.”
The polling is fully funded by the school, and Elon officials claim its polling arm “operates as the neutral, non-biased information resource.”
The Elon University Poll is a charter member of the Transparency Initiative – a program that was established by the American Association for Public Opinion Research in 2014 in order to educate polling firms on ways to better share how they collect and interpret their information.
According to school officials, Elon Poll’s voluntary participation in this initiative “signifies a willingness to clearly state in its reports how questions were asked, in what order, who funded the poll and then conducted it, and a definition of the population under study, among other details.”
Worst first 100 days approval rating of any president. Know who is the second worst first 100 days? Trump. During his first term.
Same words, same ginned-up fears, same actors, same dishonest media.
How about more fawning over an illegal alien human trafficker that is a proven violent gang member?
It isn’t proven until it is proven in a court of law. The court of public opinion is irrelevant. The left isn’t fawning over an immigrant. We are weeping of the loss of respect for the rule of law by conservatives.
To repost a comment from JH that says it some much better (and more maturely) than I ever could in case you missed it:
JH on April 21, 2025 at 10:55 PM
https://www.rhinotimes.com/news/appellate-court-orders-doj-to-take-action-to-bring-garcia-back/
I think everyone agrees if you’re here illegally and you commit a crime, you should be deported. But under the constitution, everyone (including non-citizens) are entitled to due process under the law. That means following the deportation proceedings currently on the books, no matter how inconvenient that is for this administration.
Under the Biden administration, they supposedly weaponized the justice department against the crybabies of January 6th. But guess what? They all got their day in court. This guy, no matter how good or bad you think he is, was literally picked up at work and sent to a foreign prison without a lawyer or a hearing in front of a judge. This administration is already talking about sending citizens to this prison, so we may get treated just like you want illegals treated.
If the supreme Court prevents district courts from issuing nationwide injunctions, this will allow the executive branch to enforce what they want carte blanche, without any mechanism to stop them. It’ll be like launching a nuke, where any president (liberal or conservative) can bypass the other two branches. I think we all need to ask ourselves if we want the executive to have that kind of power, especially if they are as impulsive as our current god king.
Anybody who believes in a Elon University poll or any other university poll for that matter is a fool. It’s been found that time and time again their sampling has been skewed whether they say it wasn’t or not. You have to face it. The left is blatantly dishonest.
How do you breath with your head so deep in the sand?
How do you breath (sic) with your head so far up your ass?
It’s breathe, dumbass. Breathe, not breath. Learn to spell dude. You come off as an idiot trying to preach to people like you’re so smart with messages full of typos. Perfect lefty, I guess.
Chris’s Second Grade English reveals his intellectual level.
His maturity level is approximately equivalent. He can barely submit a comment without a gratuitous swipe at conservatives.
He’s the Village Idiot.
Na, I don’t proof here much as it really isn’t worth the effort. But thanks for caring.
There is no more effort required in composing a coherent sentence than an imbecilic one.
Face it, you’re just stupid.
Aaaaaaaaand Austin shows his level of intellect in a single childish name calling statement.
Not shocked
Then keep sounding like the village idiot everyone thinks you are. You say you take time to look up sources and facts, yet can’t be bothered to actually reread what you typed even once? Moronic and no one will take you seriously.
Funny that he got re-elected, easily, ain’t it?
Nope. Sad is the word that comes to mind. Pathetic is also another word that pops to mind when thinking of how people could elect such an ugly, unintelligent, and cruel man to lead our Great country.
But you be you.
Yeah, I agree – democracy is such a bitch.
We really should not let the great unwashed choose our leaders. I mean, c’mon… they’re not qualified! We need to have the intellectually superior – like you! – pick our leaders… right?
But you be you… you snot nosed snob.
Well, per the polling, many are beginning to see the error of their ways. Always a good learning experience.
You’re right. The proof is in the true and factual election vote totals, not in the 2020 numbers. Now we find out Justice Riggs took ACT BLUE money. I was born at night but not last night!
The election results are based on promises. This pool is based on performance. Yet again, Trump makes promises he can’t keep.
He hasn’t lowered prices
He hasn’t boosted the economy the bestest biggly like no one has ever seen
He hasn’t brought peace with Ukraine
He hasn’t brought peace to middle east
He hasn’t brought back Manufactuing
He is actually taking actions that are counter to all of the above promises. But hey, we have less people coming to the US from outside the US. Illegal AND legal.
But you be you.
How bout Biden’s 1st day in office when he closed down the oil and gas pipeline, therefore raising the price of energy and everything which was transported ? Not to mention the price of gas for our cars and heat for our homes…. Direct effect on those who could least afford it !
Still pushing that lie? How did a non-funtioning pipeline that wasn’t even built yet, impact gas prices? Is it that you think refineries lowered prices on the promise of a pipeline? LAMO. How foolish to you have to be to believe that lie, let alone repeat it? LMAO
No wonder we are a failing nation. The MAGA voters believe everything they are told to believe regardless of common sense.
Way to Make America More Stupid Again.
And this is relevant how..?
Of course, Austin doesn’t care about anyone else’s perspective on how the President’s policies are impact lives. He only cares about his narrow bigoted point of view of his small world (and weirdly even the smell of other men).
But you be you
As your mental illness progresses, no-one even knows what you’re talking about.
And I’m no bigot.
And I don’t “smell other men”.
But you might be a creep. And a nutcase.
You commented about the smell of people downtown. Weird. Oh wait….was it what the ‘looked like’ that you assumed they smelled? Hmmmmm?
Chris, You need to watch and listen to and read some factual Info——-not the obviously biased stories you’re getting, not to mention the downright lies of CNN… But you be you, like many other ignorant-of-the-facts liberals
Name one piece of misinformation I have stated here.
Classic conservative. Tosses out accusation without any justification supporting their accusation. When asked to provide, they ghost you. Not shocked.
All I care about is results. The real enemy of our Republic is the LEFT.
Results: market down, dollar down, prices up, tourism down, and enemies collaborating against us, allies now hate us. Not bad for first 100 days when he promised the exact opposite in his words “day 1”.
But we do have less brown people in the US.
Can we shorten the “due process” for illegals to 15 minutes and then send them home? As for the other thoughts, Trump is still better than Bumbling Biden ever was. Please do not even mention the name of the Dems replacement candidate. She would have been worse than her boss. Fact is the Dem Machine put up a loser. If they had anybody of substance, integrity, and the ability to think for themselves the story may be different.
Well said Greg, and thank you Scott for your attention to detail.
My belief is that “local” judges have no authority on a national level. Judge shopping has been going on for years and shouldn’t be allowed.
National issues belong in the three branches of government, not across state lines.
I’ll take President Trump any day over the “dead end” gang that headed up the Biden Administration.
Note thst these judges are Federal judges
Not local judges. Look up the word federal. You might learn something.
If you don’t beleive a Federal judges has the jurisdiction over Federal actions, then who does? You can’t take every little disagreement to the supreme court.
But you be you.
The Biden immigration bill did something very close to that but making the asylum process much more streamlined. But Trump needed his boogeyman to scare the suckers into voting for him. Amd now you have a President that can’t even coordinate his own party to align on legislation so the problem will remain unfired and he will continue to try and ignore the courts in his inhumane treatment if immigrants.
LMAO…and Joe Bidum still walks on water!
He’s doing exactly what we elected him to do!
Thanks, Scott, for a nice informative article. The poll seems to confirm the Consumer Sentiment numbers which have been sinking during this Administration along with the dollar and the stock market. But this last week showed a slight improvement so perhaps the worst is ever.
While Trump clearly was coached on the insane approach of shutting down trade with China (thanks to panicing retail CEOs) with his 145 percent tarrifs, most of the tariffs remain and serve as a tax on Americans with very little results if any. While the worst may be over for now. It still isn’t good.
The Unrestrained King: A Poem of Trump’s Dominion
In towers of gold, where power’s writ bold,
A king returns, his story retold.
Trump strides the land, unyielding, untamed,
No poll’s soft whisper can temper his flame.
The people cry out, their voices a din,
Polls falter, they fade—47% thin.
Elon’s new count, with fear in its frame,
Sees crisis loom large, yet he scorns the blame.
“Too far,” they plead, his orders too vast,
Yet courts and Congress bow to his mast.
The judges, robed in conservative hue,
Align with his will, their rulings hold true.
Forty percent of the faithful decree,
He may spurn the law, let the courts bend the knee.
No Senate, no House, dares challenge his throne,
Impeachment a dream, in whispers alone.
The streets pulse with rage, protests flare bright,
Harvard defies, and lawyers take flight.
But these are mere sparks in a tempest’s grand sweep,
For Trump’s iron will runs boundless and deep.
He carves through the land, institutions undone,
Each edict a blade, each day a new sun.
Yet one shadow looms, a tether unseen,
The Treasury’s yield, a bond market’s sheen.
Thirty years long, it anchors the debt,
A global finance pulse, a subtle threat.
His tariffs once shook it, made markets recoil,
A rare step back from his conquering toil.
But beware this leash, so fragile, so slight,
For Trump’s walked from debts in the dead of the night.
Creditors scorned, their claims cast aside,
He’s mused of default, with a gambler’s pride.
The dollar may waver, the markets may scream,
Yet he’d shatter that chain to pursue his dream.
Unstoppable force, unrestrained in his might,
No ballot, no judge, can dim his fierce light.
The nation remade in his image, his call,
A king who would rise, though empires may fall.
And the yield, that last thread, may snap in his hand,
For Trump bows to none in this fractured land.
I find this poll, similar to the one published a few weeks back, to be disingenuous at best, and meant to skew the results to the left.
This poll only included 1,000 results (people who actually took the poll) and claim they represent the entire nation. All 340 million of us, liberals, conservative, republicans, democrats, independent, men women and children.
I remember from my science and mathematics classes, any results extended past 4 decimal places could not be considered accurate. So even if they “rounded up” to four decimal places all poll results should be shown as 0.0001 percent of Americans,
And this includes 0.0001 percent of the democrats and 0.0001 percent of republicans
If this publication wants to be taken seriously, show the results as what they actually are. The percentage of the people polled, period. Extrapolating to include “everyone” is misleading and should not be taken seriously as written
John
Thank you for your feedback John. I agree completely that polling is a very inexact science but sometimes it is the best we have since we can’t ask all 300 million plus Americans. It is still interesting, I think, to see what polls in the state such as Elon and HPU find among respondents. I would point out that this week there were a lot of larger national polls, including a Fox New poll, that came out and showed Trump losing grounds on some issues such as the economy.
Polls are not supposed to be exact. They provide a statistical estimation of the average of a known population with a stated margin of error. It is an old science that does exactly as it should. To deny the findings is to admit you don’t understand statistics and it purpose.
Election polling is a bit different because you are estimating against an unknown population (election turnout) so it gives polling a bad reputation as it can is only as good as the pollster can guess the election turnout by demographic.
**************
Hey if you want to see for yourself how absurd polling can be, just go read “The Gist” which is Greensboro City’s magazine and click on the poll being conducted by A&T University. It’s ostensibly asking your opinion on “climate change”, but all the questions are leading questions that are designed to shoehorn you into their preferred answers.
It’s classic push polling, as I’m sure the Elon poll is.
What a joke.
* * * * * * * * * *
Is this the same poll that said Trump would lose in 2024?
Presidential polling is very different that spot polling such as this ELON poll. This poll has a known population the sampling can determine the appropriate demographics to use. In election polling the challenge is that population it is attempting to estimate is unknown (election turn out population). The pollsters do their best to estimate turnout but with Trump who brings out a long-disenfranchised group of the population (rural white voters), they missed the mark wildly.
To also address Austin’s hollow accusation of wording manipulation, do note that 1) he provides no actual examples of the questions asked in the ELON poll 2) He ignores that several other polls are indicating the same decline in approval rating, 3) Also note that the questions included in the ELON poll (available online) are very basic questions in structure…do you approve, disagree, strongly approve, strongly disagree etc…. So far less likely for the manipulation he is referencing.
Hope that helps.
You do love to argue Chris. Yes, these are FEDERAL Judges but they have limited jurisdiction. They cannot, according to our Constitution, make any decree that is Nation wide.
UBU
No. They have full jurisdiction over federal laws impacting anyone or anything in their region. So, when Trump makes an EO that impacts all of the US. It impacts all regional federal jurisdictions. Not complicated.
But I will ask you the same question I ask Alan on his recent parroting of conservative media i.e. letter to the editor. If not the federal courts, who is responsible for checking the executive branch of government when they violate US law? It can’t be the supreme court as they are strictly an appeals court of the highest level. Or do you believe its ok for the executive branch to overrule existing laws?
I know Elon is liberal…but this time, I’m with them. I fear for our future and I fear for our country!
Chorus of the Rhino: A Poem of Reader Clashes
In the Rhino’s digital den, where passions collide,
Commenters clash with fervor, no thought left untried.
On Trump’s iron reign, they spar and they spit,
Each keystroke a dagger, each quip a sharp hit.
Chris, the sentinel, stands firm in his fray,
“Worst hundred days!” he cries, stats his display.
Polls paint Trump dim, approval in dust,
Yet foes call them lies, their faith never rusts.
Peanut Arbuckle sneers, “Same old fake fears!”
He scoffs at the left, their crocodile tears.
“Fawning for gangs!” he rails with a jeer,
While Chris fires back, “The law’s what we steer!”
JH’s ghost lingers, quoted with grace,
Due process, he urged, for each human face.
But Randall H. scorns, “Polls? Skewed, a disgrace!”
Elon’s numbers, he claims, are the left’s crooked chase.
Al Hare’s sharp wit cuts through with a grin,
“Democracy’s messy, yet Trump rolled it in!”
Chris mourns the choice, calls it sad, calls it grim,
A “cruel king” elected—oh, how hearts dim.
Timmy and Austin, they pounce on a typo,
“Breathe, not breath!” they mock, as their barbs overflow.
“Village Idiot!” Austin brands with a sting,
Chris shrugs, “I don’t proof for this brawling ring.”
PACKFAN veers back to Biden’s old sins,
Pipelines and prices, where his wrath begins.
MILLER FORESTER growls, “The left’s our true foe!”
While Greg demands swift boots for those who must go.
American Believer cheers Trump’s steady hand,
“Judge-shopping’s a farce, let the branches command!”
But Chris corrects sharp, “Federal, not local, you see,”
His logic a blade in this wild comment spree.
Jv laughs, “Biden walks water? Oh, please!”
Pk stands tall, “Trump’s what we need!”
Frank McClanahan nods, sees markets rebound,
Yet Chris warns of tariffs, their tax on the ground.
Piedmont Poet weaves verse of the king’s boundless might,
His words echo bold in the Rhino’s fierce fight.
John doubts the polls, “One thousand’s too small!”
While Scott Yost defends, “It’s the best we can call.”
Salt Life jabs last, “Polls missed Trump’s win!”
Chris counters with calm, stats his anchor within.
Austin decries push polls, their questions a trap,
But Chris holds the line, facts his unyielding map.
In this Rhino Times storm, where voices don’t bend,
Each commenter fights, no beginning, no end.
For Trump or against, their truths fiercely burn,
A chorus of chaos, where all take their turn.
Market Down
Interest Rates Up
Dollar Value Down
Internatioanl Trade Down
and now we can add:
Hiring Down
GDP Down
Is this was winning looks like to Trumpers?