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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial | |
ARTICLE VIEW: | |
New polls find broad partisan divide over Trump’s approach to crime | |
By Jennifer Agiesta, CNN | |
Updated: | |
2:37 PM EDT, Wed August 27, 2025 | |
Source: CNN | |
Three new polls find a broad partisan divide over whether the federal | |
government should be involved in fighting crime in US cities, even as a | |
large share of Americans say they see crime in urban areas as a major | |
problem. | |
Just 36% of Americans support “federal officials bringing the | |
Washington, DC local police under federal control citing a public | |
safety emergency,” a found, while 38% support “deploying National | |
Guard troops from other states to Washington, DC, for law enforcement | |
efforts.” | |
On both measures, Republicans are the strongest backers of the move | |
with 76% of Republicans supporting National Guard deployments in DC | |
and 71% supporting federal control of DC’s local police. Only 8% of | |
Democrats favor either action. | |
A of registered voters nationwide finds a similar dynamic. Overall, | |
56% say they oppose “President Trump’s decision to deploy the | |
National Guard to Washington, DC in an effort to reduce crime,” with | |
41% in support of it. Nearly 9 in 10 Republicans support the | |
president’s decision (86%), compared with just 34% of independents | |
and 5% of Democrats. | |
Considering federal government involvement in policing large cities | |
more generally, released Wednesday finds that a majority view it as | |
acceptable for the government to “use the US military and National | |
Guard to assist local police.” | |
Around 55% view that as at least somewhat acceptable, including just | |
26% who say it is “completely acceptable,” while 37% say it is | |
somewhat or completely unacceptable. | |
Yet most see it as unacceptable for the federal government to “take | |
control of local police departments,” with 55% seeing it as very or | |
somewhat unacceptable and 32% at least somewhat acceptable. Here too, | |
GOP support far outweighs independent or Democratic backing for these | |
moves. | |
On bringing in the military and National Guard, 82% of Republicans | |
view that as acceptable, compared with 46% of independents and 30% of | |
Democrats, and on a takeover of local police forces, 51% of | |
Republicans call that acceptable compared to 26% of independents and | |
15% of Democrats. | |
The AP-NORC poll also finds widespread concern about crime in the US. A | |
broad majority of Americans (81%) say that crime is a major problem in | |
large cities, with 66% seeing it as a major problem for the country | |
overall. Far fewer say the same about their own community (24%) or | |
small towns or rural areas (20%). | |
These polls and others suggest Trump’s actions in DC have had little | |
effect thus far on his overall approval rating. | |
Across six polls of adults conducted in August, largely after federal | |
agents began patrolling the streets of Washington, Trump’s approval | |
rating stands at an average of 41% approve to 56% disapprove in the | |
latest , which is roughly the same as it’s been all summer. | |
On his handling of crime specifically, recent polls vary, with the | |
Reuters/Ipsos poll and a new both finding approval ratings well below | |
50% on that topic – 43% approve of his handling of crime in the | |
Reuters/Ipsos poll, 45% on “crime and public safety” in the | |
Strength in Numbers/Verasight poll. Among registered voters in the | |
Quinnipiac poll, 42% say they approve of Trump’s handling of the | |
issue. But the AP-NORC poll finds public reaction to Trump’s handling | |
of crime in positive territory, with 53% approving and 45% | |
disapproving on crime. | |
Across all four, though, the president’s handling of crime rates as | |
one of his strongest issue approval ratings. | |
The AP-NORC poll was conducted August 21 to 25 among a random | |
nationwide sample of 1,182 adults with a margin of sampling error of | |
plus or minus 3.8 percentage points; the Reuters/Ipsos poll was | |
conducted August 22 to 24 among 1,022 adults with an error margin of | |
plus or minus 3.0 points; and the Strength in Numbers/Verasight poll | |
was conducted August 18 to 21 among 1,500 adults with an error margin | |
of plus or minus 2.6 points. All three polls were conducted online. The | |
Quinnipiac University poll was conducted by telephone from August 21 | |
through 25 among 1,220 registered voters and has an error margin of | |
plus or minus 3.4 points. | |
This story has been updated with additional details. | |
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