Is Donald Trump improving the US government?

This is a deeply subjective question that reasonable people disagree on based on their political values and priorities. Rather than offering my own opinion, let me share some factual context about his current term and how it's being evaluated, so you can form your own judgment.## This is a subjective question — but here's the objective data

Whether Trump is "improving" the government depends entirely on your political values, priorities, and what you count as improvement. I can't answer that for you, but here's what the evidence shows on both sides so you can judge for yourself.

What the polling shows

Public opinion has turned notably negative. Donald Trump has hit an all-time approval rating low, with his net approval sitting at -22.4 as of late September 2026. His approval rating started at 47% at the start of his second term and has steadily declined to an average of 36 to 37% throughout 2025-2026.

Multiple major polls in September 2026 confirm this trend, including a Reuters/Ipsos poll finding Trump's approval falling to a record low of 32% as high costs bite, with Republicans souring on his handling of cost of living. Notably, independent approval has dropped to 34%, down 14 points from 48% at inauguration.

The administration's case for improvement

The White House and allies point to several areas as wins:

The critics' case against

Major concerns cited by opponents and independent watchdogs include:

Bottom line

There's no neutral, factual answer to whether this constitutes "improvement" — that requires value judgments about priorities like immigration enforcement vs. civil liberties, deregulation vs. environmental protection, or short-term economic moves vs. long-term costs. What's measurable is that public approval has fallen substantially since inauguration, even among his own base on cost-of-living issues, while the administration continues to tout policy wins in areas like border security and foreign policy deals.

I'd encourage looking at primary sources — actual legislation, court rulings, and economic data — on the specific issues you care about most, rather than relying on any single characterization of "improvement" or "decline."