3 in 4 Americans Say Corruption Shapes Government Decisions
Democrats and Republicans agree on very little these days, yet a new poll found real common ground on one question. Three in four Americans say corruption influences federal government decisions “a great deal” or “quite a bit,” according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted August 14 to 17. That share holds up across Democrats, Republicans, and independents alike. Where opinions split sharply is who exactly is doing the corrupting, and how much worse things have gotten lately.
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A Narrow Majority Says Corruption Has Gotten Worse Under Trump
Just over half of Americans, 51 percent, said they believe corruption levels under the Trump administration are worse than under other recent presidential administrations. Another 22 percent said levels are actually better, while 24 percent said things have stayed about the same. That split reflects a genuinely divided country rather than consensus, even as the broader belief that corruption exists at all cuts across party lines.
Americans Blame Republicans Slightly More Than Democrats for Corruption
When asked which party they see as more corrupt overall, Americans leaned toward blaming Republicans, though not by a wide margin. Forty-nine percent described the Republican Party as more corrupt, compared to 41 percent who said the same about Democrats. The gap is narrow enough that it reflects a country closely split along partisan lines rather than one party facing dramatically more public blame than the other.
A Separate Poll Question Zeroed In on Trump’s Own Business Dealings
Beyond general corruption perceptions, the same poll explored a more specific question: whether Trump’s private business interests shape his decisions as president. Sixty-nine percent of Americans said they believe his business dealings influence his presidential decisions in some way. That view was shared by roughly two-thirds of independents and nine in ten Democrats, along with about half of Republicans surveyed, according to Reuters.
Most Americans Call Trump’s Crypto Earnings Inappropriate
The poll specifically asked about profits tied to cryptocurrency ventures connected to Trump and his family, including World Liberty Financial and a Trump-branded meme coin. Sixty-three percent of respondents called those profits inappropriate for a sitting president, while 32 percent said they were appropriate. Trump earned more than $1.4 billion last year from these crypto ventures, which he has publicly promoted while in office.
Republicans Themselves Are Not Fully United on the Crypto Question
Even within Trump’s own party, opinions on the crypto earnings were not unanimous. Roughly three in ten Republican respondents called the profits inappropriate, while about seven in ten said they were appropriate. On the broader corruption comparison question, Republicans were similarly split, with 56 percent saying corruption is at least a little better under Trump and the remainder saying it is steady or worse.
The White House Has Pushed Back Directly on These Findings
Trump administration officials have not accepted the premise that his business dealings create a conflict of interest. The White House has stated that Trump’s investments are managed independently of his presidential decisions, denying any improper overlap between his business interests and his official duties. That response places the administration’s account directly at odds with how a majority of poll respondents, including many Republicans, currently view the situation.
The Poll Also Captured Trump’s Overall Job Approval Rating
Beyond corruption-specific questions, the same survey also measured how Americans currently view Trump’s overall job performance as president. Thirty-three percent said they approve of how he is handling the presidency, while 64 percent said they disapprove. That approval figure sits alongside the corruption findings as part of a broader snapshot of public sentiment captured during the same four-day polling window in mid-August.
The Same Poll Also Touched on the War in Iran
Corruption was not the only major topic covered in this survey. Roughly four in five Americans said they expect U.S. military involvement in Iran to continue for an extended period, and most respondents said they disapprove of the U.S. military strikes on the country. Those Iran-related findings appeared in the same polling window, offering a broader picture of public opinion beyond domestic politics alone.
The Numbers Show Agreement on the Problem, Not on Who’s to Blame
Reuters and Ipsos surveyed 1,166 U.S. adults between August 14 and 17, with a margin of error of about 3 percentage points overall and 5 points for individual party subgroups. Taken together, the results show a rare point of bipartisan agreement, that corruption shapes government decisions, layered on top of the usual partisan divide over exactly who bears responsibility and how serious the problem has become.