Galloway, N.J. — Most New Jersey voters give the Trump administration poor marks so far and Democrats are frustrated with their party’s response, according to a poll released today by the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton University. Voters also weighed in on federal spending. 

Most New Jersey voters (54%) think the country is headed in the wrong direction, while 37% said things are on the right track.  

A majority (52%) rated President Donald Trump’s job performance so far as poor, 8% gave it an average rating, 11% rated it as good, and 26% think he is doing an excellent job so far. 

As for the economy, most New Jersey voters (62%) think it is getting worse, while 30% think it is getting better. One in five Republicans (21%), 59% of Independents, and the vast majority of Democrats (94%) are among those who have a negative outlook right now.  

“The economy was the top priority for voters going into the November election, and Trump made it central to his campaign, so this pessimism eight weeks in is a big vulnerability for this administration,” said Hughes Center Head of Research Alyssa Maurice. 

The poll of 702 New Jersey voters was released by the Hughes Center for Public Policy and has a margin of error of +/- 3.7 percentage points.  

Approval ratings 

The approval ratings of Donald Trump, J.D. Vance and Elon Musk are underwater by double digits in New Jersey. More than half of voters (55%) either strongly or somewhat disapprove of Trump, while 44% approve at least somewhat.

Majorities also disapprove of J.D. Vance and Elon Musk (53% and 59%, respectively), while 39% approve of Vance and 37% approve of Musk.  

Majorities of voters overall are dissatisfied with both parties in Congress, but among their own voters congressional Democrats’ approval rating fared worse than Republicans’. Among Republicans, 83% at least somewhat approve of the way their party’s representatives are handling their jobs in Congress, and only 12% disapprove. In contrast, among Democrats, just over one-third (34%) approve of their party’s job performance in Congress, while a majority (63%) disapprove. 

Respondents were asked what they consider the top issue facing the country right now. A plurality of 35% said the economy, inflation or cost of living. The next highest rate (13%) said authoritarianism or threats to democracy, followed by border security or restricting immigration, which was cited by 9% of voters as their top issue. 

“Voters may not be pleased with this Republican administration, but Democrats may be in an even weaker position,” Maurice said. “Many of the people who cited concerns about the state of our democracy as their main issue also mentioned their frustration with the Democratic party’s response to these threats. We’re seeing that frustration borne out in the abysmal approval ratings for congressional Democrats from their own voters.” 

Federal spending 

A majority of voters (51%) support the recent efforts to reduce federal spending, at least somewhat. But fewer (45%) support cutting staff who work for the federal government and an even lower rate (36%) support the methods by which the current administration is cutting jobs. Majorities oppose cutting federal staff (51%) and how the administration has done so (60%). 

Despite majority support for reducing federal spending, when respondents were asked whether funding should increase, decrease or remain the same for the largest expenditures, voters actually wanted to spend more on most categories.  

Majorities wanted to increase spending on Medicare (51%), Social Security (51%), veterans benefits and services (69%) and education (56%).  A plurality of 42% wanted to keep spending the same for Medicaid. When it comes to national defense, voters were split evenly on whether to increase spending (38%) or keep it stable (38%). The only expenditure for which a plurality of voters (48%) wanted to decrease spending was foreign aid. 

Nearly 1 in 5 New Jersey voters (19%) have been impacted personally by recent spending cuts, while 70% said they have not been affected.   

Other items on the Trump agenda 

The poll also asked for New Jersey voters’ stance on other aspects of Trump’s agenda. 

A majority of voters (53%) said transgender athletes in K-12 schools should compete in sports according to their sex at birth, aligning with the current administration (36% of Democrats, 66% of Republicans and 62% of Independents). 

One in 5 voters overall (21%) said they should compete according to their gender identity (37% of Democrats, 8% of Republicans and 15% of Independents), and 10% said they should be banned from competing in sports altogether (5% of Democrats, 21% of Republicans, and 5% of Independents). 

A majority (56%) think practices related to diversity, equity and inclusion are a good thing for the most part (86% of Democrats, 28% of Republicans and 47% of Independents). One third of voters think these practices are a bad thing overall (9% of Democrats, 56% of Republicans and 40% of Independents).  

Two-thirds of voters think the United States should play an active role in world affairs, while 22% said it would be better for the country to stay out of these matters. Majorities of all party affiliations and demographics agree that the U.S. should play an active role.  

A majority of voters (57%) think the Unites States’ alliances with other countries around the world are mutually beneficial and about one fourth (24%) share Trump’s position that allies benefit more from these arrangements than the U.S. A minority of only 13% think the U.S. benefits more from international alliances. 

Most voters oppose (70%) the idea of the United States taking over new territories like Greenland and Canada and 23% support the proposal. Majorities of Democrats (93%) and Independents (71%) oppose this, while a plurality of Republicans (47%) are supportive. 

You can view the full results here.

Methodology 

The poll of New Jersey registered voters was sponsored and conducted by the Stockton Polling Institute of the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton University. Data collection took place from March 18-22, 2025. A total of 702 New Jersey voters were interviewed. Overall, 93% of interviews were conducted on cell phones and 7% on landline phones. In terms of mode, 57% were reached via dialing with the survey administered by a live interviewer and 43% were reached via text-to-web. The live calls were conducted by Opinion Services. The text messages were sent by Stockton Polling Institute staff and included a single-use link to take the survey online. Both cell and landline samples consisted of random digit dialing (RDD) and voter list sample from MSG. The data was weighted based on U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 data for the citizen voting age population in New Jersey on variables of age, race, education level and sex. The poll's margin of error is +/- 3.7 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. The margin of sampling error is higher for subsets. Sampling error does not account for other potential sources of bias in polls, such as measurement error or nonresponse. More details can be found here.

About the Hughes Center  

The William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton University serves as a catalyst for research, analysis and innovative policy solutions on the economic, social and cultural issues facing New Jersey, and promotes the civic life of New Jersey through engagement, education and research. The center is named for the late William J. Hughes, whose distinguished career includes service in the U.S. House of Representatives, Ambassador to Panama and as a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Stockton. The Hughes Center can be found on YouTube @StocktonPublicPolicyCenter, and can be followed on Facebook @StocktonHughesCenter and X@HughesCenter.