{"id":873575,"date":"2025-09-17T01:12:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T06:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/17\/what-americans-think-about-trumps-handling-of-crime-according-to-a-new-poll\/"},"modified":"2025-09-17T01:12:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T06:12:08","slug":"what-americans-think-about-trumps-handling-of-crime-according-to-a-new-poll","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/17\/what-americans-think-about-trumps-handling-of-crime-according-to-a-new-poll\/","title":{"rendered":"What Americans think about Trump’s handling of crime, according to a new poll"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 As armed National Guard troops<\/a><\/span> patrol the nation\u2019s capital as part of an unprecedented federal takeover of Washington\u2019s police department, handling crime is now a relative strength for President Donald Trump<\/a><\/span>, according to the latest AP-NORC poll.<\/p>\n

Americans are generally not happy about the Republican president\u2019s handling of issues like immigration and the economy but are more positive about his tough-on-crime approach, according to the survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

Indeed, the vast majority of Americans, 81%, see crime as a \u201cmajor problem\u201d in large cities \u2014 a concern Trump has seized on as he has deployed the National Guard to the District of Columbia and threatened to expand that model<\/a><\/span> to cities across the country. Despite that perception, data shows that violent crime in D.C. is at a 30-year low<\/a><\/span>. But Trump\u2019s approach appears to be helping him, at least for the moment: His overall approval rating has increased slightly, from 40% in July to 45% now.<\/p>\n

But the poll shows there is less public support for federal takeovers of local police departments, suggesting opinions could shift over the coming weeks or months, depending on how aggressively Trump pursues his threats.<\/p>\n

For now, many Republicans in particular feel extreme action needs to be taken, even as statistics show violent crime is down in Washington and across the nation<\/a><\/span> following a coronavirus pandemic-era spike.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbout damn time that somebody did something,\u201d said Charles Arnold, 87, a lifelong Republican who lives in San Diego. <\/p>\n

Arnold, a retired electronics technician and veteran who served in the Navy, said that it had been jarring to see the National Guard being used for domestic law enforcement on U.S. soil but that the action seemed to be necessary.<\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

\n AP AUDIO: Handling crime a strength for Trump as many in US see a \u2018major problem\u2019 in big cities: AP-NORC poll\n <\/p>\n

<\/bsp-custom-headline><\/p>\n

Many people view handling crime as a strength for President Trump. AP correspondent Mike Hempen reports.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not what the armed forces are for. They shouldn\u2019t be there. They shouldn\u2019t have to be there. The police should be allowed to police,\u201d he said. \u201cI detest the thought that it needs to be done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Handling crime is a strength for Trump<\/h2>\n

About half of U.S. adults, 53%, say they approve of Trump\u2019s handling of crime, the poll finds.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s higher than his approval rating on the economy, immigration and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine<\/a><\/span> \u2014 which are in line with his overall approval rating.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s approach on crime is similarly popular among white and Hispanic adults, with roughly half in each group saying they approve of the way he\u2019s handling the issue. Black adults, however, are substantially less likely to say they\u2019re on board with Trump\u2019s approach to crime, with just 27% in favor.<\/p>\n

Trump also garners much stronger support from independents on crime than on other issues. Roughly half of independents approve of his handling of crime, compared with about 3 in 10 who approve of his handling of the economy, immigration and the Russia-Ukraine war.<\/p>\n

Most think crime is a \u2018major problem\u2019 for large cities<\/h2>\n

There\u2019s broad agreement among Americans that crime is a significant issue in large cities, even with incident numbers in decline<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

That belief is especially pronounced among Republicans, nearly all of whom see crime as a significant problem in large cities. Roughly 7 in 10 independents and Democrats agree.<\/p>\n

Americans who live in urban areas are also more likely to say crime is a \u201cmajor problem\u201d in their own communities.<\/p>\n

They include Tiana Parker, 30, a liberal Democrat who lives in the suburbs of Seattle. Parker is dismayed by what Trump is doing in Washington, D.C. \u2014 and his presidency overall \u2014 but nonetheless calls crime \u201ca major problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t feel safe going to Seattle, especially as a woman, at least not by myself,\u201d said Parker, who said she was sexually assaulted on the train several years ago. There was a deadly shooting<\/a><\/span> at a strip mall near where she lives last year, and there have been several times she said she has been followed while walking down the street.<\/p>\n

While she thinks crime needs to be addressed, she believes Trump\u2019s approach is misguided and dangerous.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat he is doing is a waste of resources, and he\u2019s not really attacking the real problem. It\u2019s creating a real divide,\u201d she said. \u201cI think that it is a gross lack of respect and trust towards his citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n

That sentiment is shared by Mark Hackl, 49, an information technology director who lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and was a lifelong conservative Republican until 2016, when he left the party because he was dismayed by Trump. He is now a registered independent.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think crime is always an issue that needs to be addressed,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m always pro-law and order, so to speak.\u201d But he said there comes a point where the ends don\u2019t justify the means.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy raw emotion is I\u2019m horrified by it,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re not supposed to allow the active military to function in the borders of the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n

More think federal government should support police, rather than taking over<\/h2>\n

Still, there are limits to what the public may accept. The poll finds 55% of U.S. adults believe it is \u201ccompletely\u201d or \u201csomewhat\u201d unacceptable for the federal government to take control of local police departments, as Trump has effectively done in Washington.<\/p>\n

Republicans are overwhelmingly in favor of the federal government using the military and the National Guard to assist local police, but even they are more hesitant about the federal government taking control of local police departments.<\/p>\n

About half of Republicans find this to be acceptable, while about one-third say it\u2019s not. Democrats are broadly opposed to both.<\/p>\n

For Republican David Gehret, 62, a maintenance technician who lives in rural Narvon, Pennsylvania, what Trump is doing is spot on.<\/p>\n

\u201cBring it on,\u201d he said. \u201cProtect us.\u201d<\/p>\n

___ Colvin reported from New York.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

The AP-NORC poll of 1,182 adults was conducted Aug. 21-25, using a sample drawn from NORC\u2019s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

By JILL COLVIN and LINLEY SANDERS – Associated Press
Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 As armed National Guard troops patrol the nation\u2019s capital as part of an unprecedented federal takeover of Washington\u2019s police department, handling crime is now a relative strength for President Donald Trump , according to the latest AP-NORC poll. Americans are generally not happy about the Republican president\u2019s handling of issues like immigration<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":873576,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2623,1267],"tags":[5464,7617],"class_list":{"0":"post-873575","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-americans","8":"category-think","9":"tag-americans","10":"tag-think"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=873575"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873575\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/873576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=873575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=873575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=873575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}