I hate to be the one to tell you, but Democrats are starting to like Trump | Opinion

It's been nearly a year since 77 million Americans voted Donald Trump into office for a second term. If I didn't know any better, I'd be tempted to believe the incessant flow of criticism about the president at most legacy media outlets.

It's everywhere.

"No Kings" protests across the country send a message to Trump about his toxicity and authoritarianism, Rachel Maddow said Oct. 21. The Atlantic's George Packer wrote that MAGA is experiencing a moral collapse. On "The Daily Show," host Jon Stewart piled on the “No Kings” protests, calling Trump “king adjacent” and the “imitation crab of kings.” On "Real Time with Bill Maher," Maher called Trump “an authoritarian Taylor Swift.”

Comments and headlines like these make me wonder if everyone feels this way about Trump. Commentators are entitled to their own opinions, but everyday Americans are, too. Data shows that despite an onslaught of media criticism, many Americans support what the Trump administration is doing – even many Democrats.

Americans, even Democrats, support Trump's initiatives

Media criticism notwithstanding, a new Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll shows that Americans overwhelmingly support many of the Trump administration's major initiatives. Here are just three:

• 86% of Americans, and 82% of Democrats, support Trump lowering prescription drug prices for Medicare recipients. On Oct. 10, Trump announced a deal with AstraZeneca, a major pharmaceutical company, "to bring American drug prices in line with the lowest paid by other developed nations (known as the most-favored-nation, or MFN, price)." The White House estimates that 9 million Americans could benefit from this.
• 78% of Americans, and 69% of Democrats, support deporting undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes. Additionally, 68% of Americans support closing the border. The Biden administration's policies worsened the border significantly. Democrats finally acknowledged this, but not until the end of his term. Vox, a more left-leaning outlet, finally complained in January that Biden's border record was "disastrous."
• 75% of Americans, and 63% of Democrats, support systematically removing fraud and waste from the government. Legacy media wasn't just skeptical of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency efforts and the efficacy of what his team accomplished; they really seemed to be opposed to flushing out government waste at all. But voters have always wanted to slash government bloat.

I was surprised to see just how many Democrats supported Trump's ideas, mostly because the news media is so critical of him; it's a wonder reality has cut through the bias after all.

How is America really doing?

Trump has accomplished a flurry of political and policy achievements that demonstrate his impact as a reformer. It makes sense that so many Americans, even Democrats, support his initiatives. Inflation, jobs and the economy are still the most salient issues for Americans, followed by health care, immigration and crime. Trump has addressed all of these issues in some way and improved them − some by a lot.

Tariffs have hurt Trump's overall goal to boost America's economy, but The Economist reports that inflation is at 2.9%, the unemployment rate is 4.3% and the S&P 500 is up 10.7% since he took office. Reuters reports that the U.S. budget deficit shrank by $41 billion to $1.775 trillion in the 2025 fiscal year.

Could the economy be even better? Of course. Especially if Americans believe that their income is not keeping pace with their costs of living. But the economy has improved since Joe Biden was president.

If you had told Americans the stock market would be regularly hitting record highs even with tariffs in place and just a few years after COVID-19, they wouldn't have believed it.

Pfizer's agreement with Trump, along with his newer agreement with AstraZeneca to lower drug prices, should help decrease overall health care costs for many Americans. These seem like extraordinary achievements for everyday people, regardless of party affiliation.

Yet party affiliation still carries significant weight, even in the face of a strong record. An October Economist/YouGov Poll found that Trump's favorability, likability and leadership ability were purely determined by the respondents' ideological persuasion ‒ and by significant margins, too.

So even though Democrats say they support the president's initiatives, because he has addressed many of their main concerns, they still don't really like Trump or want to give him credit for improving their problems. That's too bad.

Nicole Russell is an opinion columnist with USA TODAY. She lives in Texas with her four kids. Sign up for her newsletter, The Right Track, and get it delivered to your inbox.