More Americans are now critical of tech billionaire Elon Musk’s role in the Trump administration in comparison to earlier this year, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll.
When asked if they “approve or disapprove of the way Elon Musk is handling his job in the Trump administration,” 57 percent said they disapproved “somewhat” or “strongly.” That is an 8-point increase from a February poll that asked the same question.
In the new poll, 9 percent had no opinion or did not answer the question on Musk approval.
The poll found 35 percent of respondents said they “approve strongly” or “approve somewhat.” That reflects a 1-point increase in approval over the poll taken a month into the Trump administration.
In the Washington Post-Ipsos poll from February, 49 percent said that they “strongly” or “somewhat” were against the job Musk was doing, while 14 percent said they were “not sure” and 2 percent had no opinion or did not answer the question.
Musk revealed last week that he would begin to spend less time on the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) next month. DOGE’s controversial slashing of large chunks of federal spending has also come amid a difficulty to maintain public support, with it also facing multiple lawsuits. Musk’s Tesla company has also taken a significant hit on the stock market since the start of the year.
Other members of the Trump administration have also reportedly had frustrations with Musk, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
The Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll took place between April 18 and 22, featuring 2,464 people and 2 percentage points as its margin of sampling error.
