Is Donald Trump improving the US government?

This is a deeply contested political question where reasonable people disagree based on their values and priorities, so I'll aim to give you a balanced picture of different perspectives rather than a personal verdict. Let me look at recent assessments.This is a question where the answer genuinely depends on your political values and what you prioritize—there's no neutral, factual yes/no. Here's a balanced picture of what's happening and how different sides see it, as of late 2026.

Public opinion has turned negative

By most measures, Trump's approval has declined significantly since his second term began. Three-in-ten Americans now approve of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president, while 68% disapprove. At the time Trump began his second term, his approval rating was 47%, the second lowest approval rating at the start of a presidential term in polling history. Throughout 2025 to 2026, Trump's approval rating has steadily declined to an average of 36 to 37%. Notably, the decrease in Trump's approval ratings during his current administration has primarily come from Republicans and Republican-leaning independents: Today, 69% approve of the way Trump is handling his job as president, down from 84% in February 2025.

Confidence in his handling of specific issues has also slipped—35% of Americans now say they are very or somewhat confident in Trump to make good decisions about economic policy, down 7 percentage points since April and 10 percentage points since April 2025.

What supporters point to

Trump allies cite a wave of policy action. A Republican senator's office framed the year as having "ended the illegal alien invasion created by Joe Biden, unleashed American energy dominance, restored law and order, and advanced peace through strength on the world stage," with working families "reaping the benefits of the largest tax cut in American history." Supporters also point to a sharp reduction in illegal border crossings, tax cuts, deregulation, and trillions in pledged investment commitments, though the White House website has shown a figure of $9.6 trillion, and experts have cautioned that some of the pledges may not come to fruition and others are unrealistically large compared to the GDP of the countries involved.

On government efficiency, the administration has pointed to workforce cuts as a win: by the end of February, the administration reported that more than 30,000 federal positions had been eliminated or reclassified as at-will roles, with supporters arguing these moves improved efficiency while critics pointed to ongoing lawsuits filed by federal employee unions. More broadly, he has pared 200,000 people from the federal workforce, imposed the highest tariffs since the 1930s, reordered America's foreign policy priorities, signed more than 200 executive orders, pardoned the Jan. 6 rioters, and forced elite universities, top law firms and television broadcasters to bend to his will.

What critics point to

Critics highlight both substantive and institutional concerns. On immigration enforcement: Trump sent masked agents into US cities to grab undocumented migrants (sometimes in error) and transported some to a dictator's prison in El Salvador, and ordered the National Guard into cities. On the economy, despite claims of low inflation, fact-checkers found overall prices are still increasing, although some specific items, such as eggs and gasoline, have seen price declines. On tax policy, analysts note Trump brandishes new tax cuts as a huge victory, although some analysts argue Americans will pay more in costs raised by tariffs than they get back from the IRS, and despite White House claims to be lifting up workers, the tax cuts mostly benefit the wealthiest Americans.

There are also concerns about legal and constitutional constraints: the courts have remained the primary domestic constraint on Trump for most of 2026, with Just Security tracking 552 cases, of which 153 resulted in rulings against the administration (list cut off in source). Fact-checkers have also flagged a pattern of exaggerated or false claims about economic and policy achievements, and through early October 2026, Trump had attacked the integrity of US elections on more than 70% of the days following his 2025 inauguration, repeatedly making false claims.

Bottom line

Whether this adds up to "improving" the government depends heavily on what you value—deregulation, border enforcement, and tax cuts versus concerns about executive overreach, institutional norms, economic costs from tariffs, and truthfulness of official claims. The polling data suggests that even many of his own 2024 voters have grown more critical over time: 31% of those who voted for him in 2024 now disapprove of his performance. I'd encourage you to weigh the specific policy areas that matter most to you rather than looking for a single verdict.