Poll: Republicans think Trump will make America great, others don't see it

ALBANY — New Yorkers say, by a wide margin, that President Donald Trump’s actions six months into office won’t make America great, according to a poll released Wednesday.

Around 54% of New Yorkers say Trump’s agenda, in the United States and abroad, won’t make America great while just 33% said it would, according to the Siena College poll.

By a similar 52%-28% count, New Yorkers say Trump’s budget bill, which he calls "beautiful," will worsen life for a majority of Americans.

The opposition to Trump’s bill and agenda cuts across all demographic groups in New York State, Steve Greenberg, spokesman for the Siena poll, said in a statement.

"When it comes to what the president calls the ‘Big Beautiful Bill,’ a majority of New Yorkers think it will worsen life for average Americans," Greenberg said. "A majority or plurality of voters regardless of region, gender, age, race, or income say the BBB will worsen life for average Americans."

The U.S. Senate on Tuesday approved Trump’s budget bill when Vice President JD Vance cast a tiebreaking vote with rank-and-file senators split 50-50.

It’s no surprise Democrats (71%-17%) say Trump’s actions so far won’t make America great while Republicans (73-12) say they will.

But Greenberg added: "Interestingly, independents, by a two-to-one margin (58-29), do not think Trump will make America great."

Overall, 60% of New Yorkers have an unfavorable opinion of Trump, while 37% view him favorably, a ratio that’s changed little in recent months.

The poll was conducted June 23-26, among 800 New York voters. Answers have a margin of error of +/- 4.4 percentage points.

Among other Trump agenda issues, the poll said New Yorkers:

• Disapprove (54-40) of how Trump is handling the violence between Israel and Iran. A smaller plurality (46-38) disapprove of his ordering the bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities.
• Oppose cutting food programs for the needy (66-23) and cutting taxes for corporations (61-24).
• Favor (48-32) requiring healthy, adult Medicaid recipients to work for benefits.
• Split (35-32) on keeping the maximum deduction for state and local taxes — often called the "SALT" deduction — at the current $10,000 level. Notably upstate residents favored keeping the cap, New York City residents split and suburban voters, who would benefit most from raising the cap, opposed (40-29) keeping the current maximum.
• Split (41-43) when asked if the state should help federal efforts to deport immigrants living illegally in the United States. Greenberg said this is a notable change from December when New Yorkers strongly favored helping the feds (54-35).

By Yancey Roy

yancey.roy@newsday.com@yanceyroy