Less than a third of Americans have confidence in US institutions, poll finds

For the fourth consecutive year, fewer than 30% of Americans have confidence in U.S. institutions like the Supreme Court, the presidency and Congress, according to a new Gallup poll. 

Those numbers, however, have unsurprisingly shifted between Democrats and Republicans since President Donald Trump took office in January. The significant party shifts in confidence this year largely cancel each other, leaving American confidence essentially unchanged – and very low. 

Tracking American confidence

Big picture view:

Gallup polled Americans on their confidence in 18 U.S. institutions, including: 

• The police
• The presidency
• The military
• Small business
• The Supreme Court
• The criminal justice system
• Science
• Newspapers
• Banks
• The church or organized religion
• The medical system
• Public schools
• Organized labor
• Big business
• Congress
• TV news
• Large technology companies
• Higher education 

Of those, only three – small business (70%), the military (62%) and science (61%) – have the confidence of the majority of Americans, Gallup found.

Along party lines

By the numbers:

When it comes to the nine institutions that have been consistently tracked since 1979 – church or organized religion, the military, the U.S. Supreme Court, banks, public schools, newspapers, U.S. Congress, organized labor and big business – 37% of Republicans are confident in those systems, 11 points higher than the 26% of Democrats who answered the same. That gap is the highest in the 46 years of consistently tracking confidence, though Gallup notes that the divide was also very sharp in 2007 during George W. Bush’s second term.

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Independents have reported consistently low confidence (25%), a sign that it matters less to them which party is in the White House. 

Where has confidence increased the most? 

Dig deeper:

Republican confidence has increased the most since 2024 for the following three institutions: the presidency (up 73 points), the military (up 18 points) and the police (up 18 points). Republicans, however, were not more confident in the Supreme Court, despite its 6-3 conservative majority. 

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Similarly, Democrats' confidence decreased the most since 2024 for the same three categories: the presidency (down 58 points), the military (down 21 points) and the police (down 16 points. 

Democrats also reported declining confidence in the criminal justice system, large technology companies and newspapers. Only two institutions – higher education and public schools – saw higher levels of confidence among Democrats. 

Who do Americans trust the least? 

The lowest-rated institutions, according to Gallup, are:

• Congress (10%)
• TV news (10%)

Racial divides

Americans’ confidence in the police is also largely based on party affiliation, in addition to race. 

According to Gallup, 52% of white Americans reported confidence in the police, compared to 24% of Black Americans. Black Americans’ confidence in the police has risen 5 points since 2020, when George Floyd was murdered by police and sparked racial justice protests nationwide. 

Confidence in the presidency and the military also shows large racial divides, of 25 and 20 points, respectively.

Power shifts

What they're saying:

Gallup’s polling underscores a notable point when it comes to confidence in U.S. institutions, suggesting that "confidence in U.S. institutions may be less about how well the institution performs its societal functions and more about who has the power to influence what the institution can do."

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