PRRI Poll: 58% of Americans See Trump as Dangerous Dictator

The PRRI poll on Donald Trump as a "dangerous dictator" returned a striking result on Tuesday: 58% of Americans now agree that the president is "a potentially dangerous dictator whose power should be limited before he destroys American democracy" — up from 52% when the question was first asked in March 2025.

The 17th annual American Values Survey, released Tuesday by the Public Religion Research Institute in partnership with the Brookings Institution, examined attitudes toward Trump and his administration, immigration, economic inequality, socialism, the MAGA movement, foreign policy, and social trust. PRRI says the coalition that powered Trump's 2024 victory is fracturing as the country heads into the midterm elections.

A Steady Climb Since March 2025

The "dangerous dictator" figure has risen at every step since PRRI first posed the question. The survey asks Americans to choose between two competing statements: that Trump is "a strong leader who should be given the power he needs to restore America's greatness," or that he is "a potentially dangerous dictator whose power should be limited before he destroys American democracy." In March 2025, 52% chose the dictator description. In PRRI's previous release, the share had climbed to 56%, and it now stands at 58%.

The divide underneath the topline remains sharply partisan. In the previous release, 91% of Democrats and 65% of independents chose the "dangerous dictator" description, compared with just 15% of Republicans — while 82% of Republicans chose the "strong leader" statement. Analysts E.J. Dionne Jr. and Bill Galston of the Brookings Institution, who contributed to the survey's analysis, noted that majorities of Republicans and white evangelical Protestants continue to back Trump and many of his most extreme policies, even as most other Americans hold unfavorable views of the president and believe he has "gone too far."

Trump's overall standing in that earlier release was deeply polarized: just 40% of Americans viewed him favorably, against 58% who viewed him unfavorably, and the intensity ran against him — 46% held a very unfavorable view, compared with 20% who viewed him very favorably. Only 30% of independents and 5% of Democrats viewed him favorably, while 85% of Republicans did.

Independents and Hispanic Voters Drive the Shift

The increase came largely from voters outside Trump's base. Nearly two-thirds of independents (64%) and Hispanic Americans (64%) now agree that Trump's power should be limited, according to the survey.

The erosion is visible inside groups that helped return Trump to the White House. His favorability among Hispanic Protestants has dropped from 51% in 2024 to 31% today, and Hispanic Trump voters are twice as likely as white Trump voters to say they regret their vote choice — 22%, compared with 11%. "The coalition that put Donald Trump back in the White House is breaking apart, with 76% of Americans saying the economy is on the wrong track," said PRRI CEO Melissa Deckman. "His 2024 gains are clearly not a long-term realignment, as we see Black, Hispanic, and young male voters moving back to Democrats."

Wrong Track on the Country and the Economy

The dictator question sits inside a broader souring of public mood. Two-thirds of Americans (68%) say their opinion of Trump has mostly changed for the worse over the last two years, including in communities that had been among his core supporters. Most Americans say the country (71%) and the economy (76%) are both headed in the wrong direction.

That mood is translating into energy for the midterms. Democratic voters are significantly more likely than Republican voters to say they are very excited about voting in November — 46% to 31%. The enthusiasm gap also runs through the religious landscape: Black Protestants (34%) are more likely than white evangelical voters (26%) to say they are very excited about voting. On the issues voters rank as critical, majorities of both Democrats and Republicans point to the rising cost of housing and everyday expenses (61%) and to electing leaders of good moral character (59%).

The "Empathy Gap"

The survey also highlighted what PRRI describes as an "empathy gap" dividing Trump supporters from other Americans. Overall, 68% of Americans — including 84% of Democrats and 70% of independents — agreed that "empathy is a foundational moral value that helps build a healthy society." But only 54% of Republicans and 48% of white evangelical Protestants agreed, and a majority of white evangelical Protestants (54%) took the opposite view: that empathy "can become dangerous when it leads people away from building a society guided by God's truth."

"As Christian nationalist leaders attack the sentiment of empathy, a disturbing 'empathy gap' has opened, separating Republicans and white evangelicals from most other Americans," PRRI President Robert P. Jones said in a statement accompanying the release. "Such orchestrated attacks are typical of violent authoritarian movements and should be disturbing to all who care about the moral foundations of our pluralistic democracy."

Immigration, Socialism and the MAGA Movement

On immigration, six in ten Americans (59%) still favor providing a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, but the parties have moved in opposite directions over the past decade. Since 2013, Republican support for a path to citizenship has fallen from 53% to 37%, while Republican support for identifying and deporting all undocumented immigrants has risen from 32% to 50%. White evangelical Protestants have followed a similar path, and majorities of Republicans (62%) and white evangelical Protestants (53%) now support detaining undocumented immigrants in internment camps until they can be deported. Independents, by contrast, have remained mostly steady, with 61% supporting a pathway to citizenship.

Economic populism is gaining ground at the same time. Four in ten Americans (41%) agree that capitalism is no longer working for average Americans and that the country should consider adopting some aspects of socialism — including nearly half of Americans ages 18 to 29 (48%). And Americans are significantly more likely to see the MAGA movement, rather than the Democratic Socialists of America, as a serious threat to the country, by 48% to 36%.

Elections, Ethics and Foreign Policy

Confidence in elections remains fragile and deeply partisan. Most Republicans (82%) say the biggest problem in American elections is ineligible people casting votes, while most Democrats (80%) say it is eligible voters being denied the right to vote. Just 35% of Americans agree that if there are serious concerns about voter fraud, the president should order federal agents to seize ballots and take over vote counting — but that figure rises to 58% among Republicans, and to 65% among Republicans who view Trump favorably.

On ethics, the public speaks with unusual unity: large bipartisan majorities say it should be illegal for elected officials to use their office to benefit themselves or their families financially (88%), to draw voting maps for partisan advantage (83%), or to buy or sell individual stocks while in office (80%). On foreign policy, just one-third of Americans (36%) — but 71% of Republicans — agree the United States was justified in carrying out military strikes against Iran, and nearly two-thirds of Americans (64%) agree the United States provides too much financial and military support to Israel, compared with three in ten (30%) who disagree.

One finding cuts against easy assumptions about values voting: although majorities of both parties call electing leaders of good moral character a critical issue, that concern has little effect on Republican views of Trump himself. His favorability stands at 73% among Republicans who call moral character critical — nearly identical to the 79% recorded among Republicans who do not.

What It Means for November

The survey lands two weeks before the November 3 midterm elections, and its findings sketch the terrain both parties will fight over. A president viewed as a dangerous dictator by 58% of the public, with three-quarters of voters saying the economy is on the wrong track and Democrats holding a clear enthusiasm advantage, presents obvious headwinds for Republicans. Yet the same research shows why the contest remains competitive: Trump's Republican base remains loyal, white evangelical Protestants continue to back him in large numbers, and the country's disagreements over immigration, empathy, and the role of government run along durable cultural lines that have defined the last decade of elections.

The headline number also comes with a methodological caution. PRRI's question does not ask voters whether they literally believe Trump is a dictator; it asks them to choose which of two statements — "strong leader" or "potentially dangerous dictator" — comes closer to their view. The steady climb from 52% to 58% therefore measures a real shift in which description Americans find more fitting, rather than a sudden change in how they define the word. Even with that caveat, the direction of travel is consistent across every group PRRI highlighted, and it is being driven by the independents and Hispanic voters who decided the last presidential election.

How the Survey Was Conducted

The American Values Survey was designed and conducted by PRRI, a nonpartisan nonprofit research organization, with support from foundations including the Andrew Carnegie Foundation and the Ford Foundation. Interviews were conducted online between August 20 and September 7, 2026, among a representative sample of 5,200 adults across all 50 states drawn from Ipsos's KnowledgePanel, plus an additional 339 respondents recruited to boost sample sizes in smaller states. The margin of error for the national survey is plus or minus 1.6 percentage points.

Source: PRRI