6 in 10 Americans say Trump is profiting off the presidency unethically or illegally, new poll finds
Most Americans think President Trump is profiting off the presidency in unethical or illegal ways and is focused more on his wealth than helping people like them, a new AP-NORC poll finds.
As Mr. Trump's family business pulls in record money from new ventures helped by his policies, the survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that when it comes to allegations that Mr. Trump is profiting from the presidency, about 6 in 10 U.S. adults believe he is either illegally profiting or doing something unethical but not illegal. Only about 2 in 10 think the Republican president is doing nothing wrong, while a similar share say they don't know enough to say.
At the same time, just over half of Americans say Mr. Trump has prioritized his personal financial interests "a lot" since returning to the White House, while only about one-quarter say he puts the same emphasis on the country as a whole. Few U.S. adults, about 1 in 10, say he's focused "a lot" on people like them.
"His wealth increases," said 87-year-old retiree Barbara Thaxton, an independent from Summerfield, Florida, "but the people in the country are just barely getting by."
Mr. Trump derided the issue of conflicts of interest at the start of his second term, telling The New York Times that "I found out that nobody cared." Unlike in his first term, he's lifted a self-imposed ban on his family striking private-sector deals overseas and started several new crypto businesses.
A trust company affiliated with World Liberty Financial, the Trump family's crypto business, received preliminary approval in August to establish a bank, CBS News reported. Democrats say the move presents a conflict of interest, and final approval was still pending at the time.
The poll results suggest that most U.S. adults think growing his personal fortune has been a focus for Mr. Trump in his second term, at least to some extent. Only about one-quarter of U.S. adults say he's prioritizing his personal business interests "only a little" or "not at all," including less than half of Republicans.
The White House has repeatedly dismissed accusations that Mr. Trump and his family business are benefiting financially from his office as a fake problem, stating categorically that he has zero conflicts and acts only in the interest of the country. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CBS News in July, "I don't think there's an appearance problem," when asked about the president's crypto earnings.
In a required federal disclosure of his financial holdings that Mr. Trump filed in June, he reported taking in more than $1 billion from new crypto businesses after he loosened regulation on the industry.
One of his biggest crypto ventures got a half-billion-dollar investment after he was elected from a United Arab Emirates business tied to the royal family. It also got help from a cryptocurrency company founded by a Chinese billionaire in trouble with the law in the U.S.
On the real estate side of the business, the Trump Organization has struck eight foreign deals in the first year of his presidency, including many in authoritarian or one-party states with influence over private business and eager to keep Mr. Trump happy, U.S. tariffs low or the U.S. military protecting it, or all three.
Overall, about 4 in 10 U.S. adults say Mr. Trump is doing something illegal, while about 2 in 10 think he's doing something unethical but not illegal. Democrats are especially likely to believe he has broken the law, with about 8 in 10 saying that.
Oscar Delgado, a 50-year-old Democrat who voted for Mr. Trump in 2024 because he thought he could improve things, now accuses the president of "turning greedy."
"He's not putting the country first," said Delgado, who lives in Lansing, Michigan, and works in a Ford metal stamping factory. "I wanted a change, but I didn't expect this change."
Independents and Republicans are much less convinced than Democrats that Mr. Trump is breaking the law. Only about 3 in 10 independents and about 1 in 10 Republicans say he's doing something illegal. About 2 in 10 independents and a similar share of Republicans think his behavior is unethical but not illegal.
Most Republicans think he is doing nothing wrong or say they don't know enough to judge.
"His family has probably benefited, but I don't think he has," said Republican Audra Pelsue, 52, dismissing Trump critics as too angry to see straight. "It's Trump derangement syndrome."
Pelsue, a manager at a laundry machine maker from Syracuse, New York, sees a double standard among Trump critics, pointing to what she says was insufficient outrage over former President Joe Biden's son.
"Look at Hunter Biden!" she said, referring to his position as director at Ukrainian energy company Burisma when his father, a Democrat, was vice president. "It was OK for Biden kids to benefit, but it's not OK for Trump's?"
Even if they don't think his behavior is illegal, Americans are much likelier to say Mr. Trump is prioritizing his personal business interests, compared with the country overall or people like themselves.
Just over half, 56%, of U.S. adults say Mr. Trump has put "a lot" of emphasis on his personal businesses since taking office again, while a similar share, 54%, say this about the business interests of his friends and family.
In contrast, only about one-quarter of Americans say he's prioritized the country as a whole "a lot" since returning to the White House, and even fewer, about 1 in 10, say he's focused "a lot" on people like them.
Republicans are likelier to think Mr. Trump has prioritized the country, with about half saying he's put "a lot" of emphasis on this since taking office, while about one-quarter say he's given that amount of focus to his personal business interests. But only about one-quarter of Republicans say he's emphasized people like them "a lot."
John Bartus, a Republican from Twin Falls, Idaho, notes that Mr. Trump has agreed to donate his salary, which comes to $400,000 a year.
"It seems like his business interests are a part of his life, but it doesn't seem like he lets that interfere with what's going on in the country," said Bartus, a 67-year-old part-time supermarket worker. "He puts it on the back burner."
But Lisa Fernandez, a Democrat from Edinburg, Texas, said Mr. Trump is using the power of the presidency but not in ways to help others.
"He's exploiting it for his own needs and his family and making a profit off the people who he is supposed to be serving," said Fernandez, 57, a retired math teacher. "His whole reason for being is to enrich himself and take what he can take without consequences."