Poll: Low confidence among Americans in President-elect Trump's appointments

2024-12-13 17:37:44, Kosova & Bota CNA

Poll: Low confidence among Americans in President-elect Trump's

President-elect Donald Trump in the evening during the release of the first election results (November 6, 2024, Florida)

As President-elect Donald Trump continues to make key appointments to his administration, about half of American adults are "not at all confident" in his ability to appoint qualified people to his Cabinet and other high-level government posts. high, according to a new poll by the Associated Press news agency and the NORC Center for Public Studies.

The process and the breakneck speed of the appointments are consistent with Mr. Trump's promise to voters that he would be a force for change in the country's status quo and a return to the unpredictable style of governing that characterized his first term in office. The White House.

But only about 3 in 10 Americans are "extremely" or "very" confident that Mr. Trump will choose qualified people to serve in his administration. Most Republicans say they have high confidence.

Mr. Trump has promised to reform Washington with an aggressive approach, including the creation of a Department for Government Efficiency, or DOGE, a nongovernmental task force charged with finding ways to trim federal employees and programs, as well as minimize federal regulations, to be led by billionaire Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.

The poll also concludes that confidence in Mr Trump's ability to manage government spending and carry out other key presidential duties, including overseeing the military and the White House, is also low.

Democrats and independents most likely to doubt the president-elect's leadership

This low confidence is generally dominated by Democrats and independents. A large share of Democrats are skeptical of Mr. Trump's abilities on all these fronts — about three-quarters say they are "not at all confident" that he will be able to effectively manage the White House, spending of the government or the army, or to choose qualified men for his Cabinet.

Meanwhile, about 4 in 10 independents say they are "somewhat" or "not at all" confident in Mr. Trump's ability to carry out those responsibilities, while about 2 in 10 are "extremely" or "very" confident.

Confidence among Republicans higher, but not overwhelming

Trust among Republicans is higher, but not as great as the level of doubt among Democrats. About 6 in 10 Republicans are "extremely" or "very" confident in Mr. Trump's ability to pick qualified people to serve in his cabinet and manage the White House, the military and government spending.

About 2 in 10 Republicans are "averagely" confident, and another 2 in 10 are "somewhat" or "not at all" confident.

President Biden faced similar challenges early in his term

When Mr. Biden took office in 2021, the public also had some doubts about his ability to manage some of the key responsibilities — but unlike Mr. Trump, where concern is at similar levels about different responsibilities, they were more confident. to Mr. Biden's ability in some ways and less so in others.

When he entered the White House, Mr. Biden had served eight years as President Barack Obama's vice president, as well as decades in the Senate, and he campaigned by emphasizing those years of experience.

A separate AP-NORC poll conducted shortly after Mr. Biden took office — where the wording of the question was slightly different — found a higher level of confidence in Mr. Biden's ability to appoint qualified people to his cabinet and to manage the White House than to his ability to manage the military and government spending./ VOA