American presidents traditionally avoid making unpopular moves early on in their terms for the most obvious of reasons: Leaders believe that the more public support they enjoy, the greater their odds of political and substantive success. Indeed, presidents from both parties have gone out of their way to avoid unpopular efforts, especially in the aftermath of inaugurations, for precisely this reason, hoping to extend so-called “honeymoon” phases.
Donald Trump, true to form, is turning this model on its head.
Pardons for violent Jan. 6 felons? Unpopular. Eliminating birthright citizenship in defiance of constitutional law and Supreme Court precedent? Unpopular. Expanding the United States’ territorial boundaries by acquiring Greenland? Unpopular. Elements of the White House anti-immigrant agenda? Unpopular.
But a new national poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research touched on an issue that generally isn’t included in surveys. From the AP’s report on the poll, which was conducted with 1,147 adults between Jan. 9 and Jan. 13:
U.S. adults broadly think it’s a bad thing if the president relies on billionaires for advice about government policy, according to the poll. About 6 in 10 U.S. adults say this would be a “very” or “somewhat” bad thing, while only about 1 in 10 call it a very or somewhat good thing, and about 3 in 10 are neutral.
Poll respondents were specifically asked about Trump relying on billionaires “for advice about government policy.” Only 12% of the public said this is a good thing, while 60% said it’s a bad thing. (The poll’s overall margin of error is +/- 3.9 percentage points.)
As is often the case in such surveys, there was a partisan gap, but in this instance, the gap wasn’t that great: 8% of Democratic voters said it’s good for the president to rely on billionaires, and 20% of GOP voters came to the same conclusion.
I’d gladly compare this to related data from other administrations, but there’s no record of polls including the question in previous decades. The reason is obvious: No other modern American president has been quite so flamboyant about partnering with billionaires — or more accurately, centibillionaires — on matters of politics and policy.
Trump, however, is giving jobs to billionaires, offices to billionaires, perks to billionaires, and his choice to lead the Treasury Department is even prioritizing tax breaks that disproportionately benefit the wealthy. Among the most jarring sights at the Republican’s presidential inauguration last week was seeing Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg — respectively, the planet’s three wealthiest individuals — receiving prime seats at Trump’s swearing-in ceremony.
If the newly inaugurated president was hoping that viewers at home were impressed, he might need to readjust his expectations about public attitudes.
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