Tracking Public Opinion on the State of U.S. Affairs
Morning Consult surveys more than 3,000 U.S. adults daily on their views regarding the current state and trajectory of the country, providing an unparalleled gauge of public sentiment.
Key Takeaways
Americans' optimism about the country's direction remains elevated in comparison with the final years of Joe Biden's presidency, but relatively low for the second Donald Trump presidency. Just over 2 in 5 U.S. adults (41%) say the country is headed in the right direction, down from 51% in early June — the current high for optimism during Trump's second term in office.
Partisanship, as always, remains the key dividing line in views on America's trajectory: While 74% of Republicans say the country is headed in the right direction, just 19% of Democrats agree.
Meanwhile, independents' optimism about the direction of the country is much more in line with Democratic than Republican sentiment, with just 30% seeing the country headed in the right direction.
The sizable gender gap in optimism about the country is another key feature of the second Trump presidency. Our latest data finds 48% of men see the country headed in the right direction, compared with just 34% of women.
Data Downloads
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Perceptions of the State of Affairs in America: A Demographic Breakdown
Source of This Data
Methodology
Every day, Morning Consult surveys a representative sample of 4,865 U.S. adults on average and asks the question, “Now, generally speaking, would you say that things in the country are going in the right direction, or have they pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track?” Results are weighted to account for a range of demographic characteristics including age, gender, race/ethnicity, educational attainment and region and have a margin of error of up to +/-4 percentage points.
Reporting dates reflect surveys conducted the prior day. (For example, data points labeled "Jan 20 2025" reflect responses gathered Jan. 19, 2025.
About Morning Consult
Morning Consult is a global decision intelligence company changing how modern leaders make smarter, faster, better decisions. The company pairs its proprietary high-frequency data with applied artificial intelligence to better inform decisions on what people think and how they will act. Learn more at morningconsult.com.
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Cameron Easley is Morning Consult’s head of U.S. Political Analysis. He has led Morning Consult's coverage of U.S. politics and elections since 2016, and his work has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Politico, Axios, FiveThirtyEight and on Fox News, CNN and MSNBC. Cameron joined Morning Consult from Roll Call, where he was managing editor. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Follow him on Twitter @cameron_easley. Interested in connecting with Cameron to discuss his analysis or for a media engagement or speaking opportunity? Email [email protected].
