Dec 13, 2024 - Politics & Policy

Half of Americans have no confidence in Trump's Cabinet picks: Poll

April Rubin

Trump enters NYSE with a group of people walking behind him. To the right, a digital American flag is partially visible. To his left, the TIME Person of the Year cover is visible. — President-elect Trump walks onto the floor of the New York Stock Exchange after being named TIME's "Person of the Year" on Dec. 12 in New York City. Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

About half of U.S. adults are "not at all confident" in President-elect Trump's ability to appoint qualified people to his administration, per an AP-NORC poll released on Friday.

Why it matters: The lack of confidence from respondents undercuts Trump's claim to have won a mandate from voters as he finalizes Cabinet picks and fine tunes policy proposals.

Only three in 10 Americans feel "extremely" or "very" confident that he'll choose qualified Cabinet members.
Respondents had a similar level of confidence in his ability to manage government spending and perform other key presidential tasks like overseeing the military and White House.

Zoom in: Democrats and independents have the least confidence in Trump's abilities.

About three-quarters said they are "not at all confident" that he'll effectively manage the White House, government or military, or that he'll choose qualified Cabinet members.

The other side: Republicans have more confidence in Trump but were not as monolith as Democrats, per AP-NORC.

About six in 10 Republicans are "extremely" or "very" confident in his Cabinet appointments and ability to manage the White House, military and government spending.

State of play: The survey was conducted as Trump filled out the majority of his Cabinet, including with some members who face a difficult road to confirmation.

His selections include MAGA loyalists, including a slew of current or former Fox News employees.

Flashback: U.S. adults also expressed doubt in how Biden would carry out similar responsibilities. In that case, confidence was split across tasks, whereas it's relatively even for Trump.

In a survey shortly after Biden took office, adults had a higher level of confidence in his Cabinet appointments and ability to manage the White House than his military and government spending management.

Methodology: The survey of 1,251 adults was conducted Dec. 5-9 and has a margin of error of +/- 3.7 percentage points.

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Half of Americans have no confidence in Trump's Cabinet picks: Poll

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