Most voters think President Donald Trump’s administration is not upholding his vow to put “America first,” according to an Emerson College poll released Friday.
The latest Emerson College survey found that 53% of likely U.S. voters think the administration is not “putting America first,” while 42% think it is, a net negative of 11 percentage points — marking an 18-point shift from a year before. In March 2025, 48% of respondents said the administration was putting “America first,” and 41% said it was not, a net positive of seven points.
“Independent and Hispanic voters drive the shift in voters’ perception of the Trump administration,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said in a statement. “A year ago, independents were split: 45% thought the administration was putting America first and 44% thought it was not. Today, 58% say it is not, while 36% say it is.”
“Similarly, Hispanics were split, 41% to 42%; today, 58% say the administration is not putting America first, while 33% say it is,” Kimball added.
The survey shows that 50% of men think the Trump administration is putting America first, compared to 45% think it is not. Meanwhile, 60% of women think it is not putting America first, and 35% think it is, according to the poll.
“What matters most to the American people is having a Commander-in-Chief who takes decisive action to eliminate threats and keep them safe, which is exactly what President Trump is doing with the ongoing successful Operation Epic Fury,” White House Spokesperson Davis Ingle told the Daily Caller News Foundation in a statement on Friday, referring to the ongoing war in Iran which polling shows is unpopular.
“President Trump campaigned proudly on his promise to deny the Iranian regime the ability to develop a nuclear weapon, which is what this noble operation is seeking to accomplish. The President does not make these incredibly important national security decisions based on fluid opinion polls, but on the best interest of the American people,” Ingle added.
Moreover, a majority of respondents, 88%, reported they are closely following the ongoing war in Iran, while 12% are not following the situation too closely, according to the poll. Of those surveyed, 47%, oppose the U.S. military action in Iran, while 40% support it and 13% percent are unsure.
“However, polling shows President Trump’s decision to launch Operation Epic Fury has Americans’ support – with MAGA and Republicans strongly supporting it,” A White House official told the DCNF. “Despite some online commentators with large followings publicly disagreeing with the President’s decision – and many legacy media outlets eagerly highlighting their comments to try and sow division – the MAGA base is not wavering one bit. These commentators claiming this will somehow fracture the President’s support is not backed by or reflected in the polling data.”
“Additionally, polling shows President Trump’s decision to launch Operation Epic Fury has Americans’ support – with MAGA and Republicans strongly supporting it,” the official added.
During his Jan. 20, 2025 inaugural address, Trump notably pledged to “very simply” put America first during each day of his second term.
“From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world,” the president said. “We will be the envy of every nation, and we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer. During every single day of the Trump administration, I will, very simply, put America first.”
Some of Trump’s “America First Priorities” include taking “bold action to secure our border and protect American communities,” and also “reforming and improving the government bureaucracy to work for the American people,” according to a January 2025 statement from the White House.
Many proponents of the right-wing “America First” movement have recently blasted Trump over the U.S. military strikes in Iran. Additionally, a Democracy Institute survey published on March 3 indicates that 80% of respondents think Trump abandoned his 2024 campaign pledge to end foreign wars, which includes 85% of Republicans and 73% of Democrats.
The latest Emerson College national survey was conducted March 16-17. The overall sample of U.S. likely voters, n=1,000, has a credibility interval, similar to a poll’s margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.
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