Poll finds majority of Americans view Trump’s second term as worse than expected
Washington, D.C.: Two months into Donald Trump’s second term, a new Yahoo News/YouGov survey reveals that a significant number of Americans believe his presidency has been worse than anticipated. The poll, conducted between March 20 and 24 among 1,677 U.S. adults, shows that 41% of respondents feel Trump’s performance has fallen below expectations, while 30% say it has been better. Another 22% say it has been "about the same" as they expected.
Trump’s approval ratings have also declined since his re-election in November. Immediately after the election, 51% of Americans approved of his first-term performance, with 43% disapproving. However, the latest poll indicates a reversal, with 50% now disapproving of his current performance and 44% approving. His personal favourability has also dropped, with 52% viewing him unfavourably and 44% favourably.
Public perception of Trump’s impact on American democracy has shifted noticeably. In November, 43% of respondents said Trump “likes to talk tough” but would not threaten democracy, compared to 39% who felt he posed a real threat. In the latest poll, 47% now believe Trump threatens democracy, while only 39% think otherwise.
Economic concerns appear to be a major factor behind Trump’s declining popularity. Nearly half of Americans identified the cost of living (23%) or the economy (23%) as the country’s most pressing issues. However, only 11% felt Trump prioritised these issues in his second term, with far more citing immigration (37%) and government spending (25%) as his focus.
The poll also highlights persistent economic anxiety among Americans. Only 26% rate the economy as excellent or good, and 47% believe it is worsening. A majority (51%) say inflation is rising, and 66% report that grocery prices continue to climb.
Trump’s approval rating for handling the economy stands at 39%, with 51% disapproving. His approval for managing the cost of living is lower, at 34%. The poll further indicates that Trump’s tariff policies have not improved public sentiment. While 46% agree tariffs may encourage domestic manufacturing, a larger share (49%) believes they will lead to a recession, and 68% feel tariffs will raise personal costs.
Overall, 51% of respondents believe Trump’s tariff policies are negatively affecting the economy, while only 20% view them positively.
The survey sample was weighted by gender, age, race, education, 2024 election turnout and vote, party identification, and voter registration status. The margin of error is approximately 2.6%.
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Gurugram Police arrest BJP Yuva Morcha member for spreading fake murder story on social media
New Delhi: Gurugram Police have arrested BJP Yuva Morcha member Hariom Mishra, for allegedly spreading a fabricated and communally sensitive story on social media about the murder of a college student in Gurugram.
Mishra who is also known as Shaurya Mishra had shared a collage of four photographs on his X handle earlier this month. He claimed that a 24-year-old college student, identified as Nikita Agarwal, had been murdered by her classmate Arif Khan in Gurugram. In the post, he alleged that the woman was blackmailed, forced into prostitution, gangraped, and eventually killed. He also claimed that Arif dumped her body in a forest. The claims were presented as being based on police sources.
The post went viral and garnering over 1.5 lakh views, and was amplified by several right-wing social media handles across X, Facebook and Instagram. A verification of the claims revealed that no such incident had taken place in Gurugram. A search of credible news reports showed no record of any such murder. The police said this news would have inevitably attracted media attention if it were true.
On December 11, Gurugram Police publicly refuted the claims through their official X handle. They stated that the information which was being circulated was completely false. The police warned that legal action would be taken against those spreading misinformation. Despite the warning, Mishra neither deleted the post nor issued any clarification.
Police in Gurugram confirmed Mishra's arrest on December 16. The police said a FIR was filed after he continued to spread false information about the alleged murder of a Hindu woman by Muslim man. Police said Mishra, a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Kaushambi district, is now being investigated.
Gurugram Police spokesperson Sandeep Singh told The Print that the accused had deliberately misrepresented facts and used objectionable content to spread hatred along religious lines. “Such posts can create serious disturbances in society, and the police take these matters very seriously,” he said.
A reverse image search conducted by fact-checkers at Alt News, revealed that the photographs used in the viral post were unrelated to the claims, while two of the images were traced to a Pinterest account belonging to influencer Maulik Chopra and another image was sourced from an Instagram post by influencer Shivam Thakur featuring a woman named Deepanshi Rawat. The fourth image was found on an unrelated Instagram page. The images depicted different individuals and had no connection to any crime.
Police said they are also investigating Mishra’s motive behind sharing the false and provocative content.
