Less than half of U.S. adults trust information from federal agencies, and many say they struggle to tell what is true as the 2026 midterm elections approach, according to a new poll.
The survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and USAFacts finds that mistrust has grown since 2024 and is higher than at the end of President Donald Trump’s first term. The findings suggest Trump’s second-term push to dismantle parts of the federal bureaucracy has deepened public confidence problems, especially among Democrats.
About 6 in 10 U.S. adults say they trust federal government information on the environment, foreign affairs, elections and politics, abortion or immigration only a little or not at all.
Trust in information about elections and politics fell from 22% to 13% among those who say they trust it a great deal or quite a bit. Trust on inflation and the cost of living fell from 26% to 18%, health care from 26% to 16%, the environment from 21% to 12%, jobs and unemployment from 25% to 15%, and abortion from 21% to 11%.
Only 34% of U.S. adults trust government certifications of election results a great deal or quite a bit, down from 40% in 2024. Certification is typically a routine process in which local and state officials confirm the vote count, but it has become politicized since Trump lost the 2020 presidential election.
Among Democrats, 44% trust government certifications of election results, a substantial decline from 65% in 2024. Among Republicans, 29% trust them, up slightly.
The partisan gap in trust has widened. About 61% of Democrats have low trust in information about the federal budget, compared with 42% of Republicans. About 60% of Democrats have low trust in information about crime, compared with 32% of Republicans.
Independents became more mistrustful of government information under former President Joe Biden and have not shifted under Trump. The only issue without a substantial partisan divide is vaccination recommendations and safety: about 6 in 10 Democrats, Republicans and independents trust the federal government on that topic only a little or not at all. Only 17% say they thoroughly trust it.
As the midterms approach, Americans also report difficulty evaluating candidates. Thirty-seven percent say it is difficult to know whether information they encounter is true, while 30% say it is difficult to find factual information about candidates and their positions. Forty-three percent have trouble figuring out if what candidates are saying is true.
Roughly half of adults say Democratic Party campaign messages (47%) and Republican Party campaign messages (53%) are rarely or never based on factual information. Similarly, 44% say the same about debates between political candidates, and 40% about decisions made by policymakers.
Just under half of U.S. adults are extremely or very concerned that the federal government will publicly discredit or question election results, tamper with election results, or pressure state election officials to change how they certify or report results. About 60% say they do not trust Trump to provide accurate information about the outcome of races, compared with 17% who say they have a high level of trust in what he says.
The growing role of artificial intelligence adds another source of concern. Nearly half of Americans, 47%, say they are more concerned than excited about AI’s future impact on how they get information, compared with 11% who are more excited. Only 9% are extremely or very confident that information from AI, chatbots or search results is reliable and factual, while 49% are not very or not at all confident.
About 46% believe AI will make it easier to understand complicated information or problems, but only 22% think it will make it easier to know what information about the government is true. About 35% believe it will make correcting false information harder. Just 20% say it is easy to verify whether AI-generated information is accurate.
Shannon Ingram, 46, a Democrat from Maryland, said it is hard to trust government communications. She pointed to shifting health recommendations as an example of information she considers questionable.
“It’s pretty hard to trust anything that’s being communicated,” Ingram said. “There is a significant amount of bias, and it comes from the people who are authoring the content.”
Jeremy Cove, 44, a Republican from Missouri, said he trusts the Trump administration’s guidance on matters such as vaccines but disagrees with its position on climate change.
“I love Trump; I voted for Trump, but some of the things he’s doing just makes me distrust more,” Cove said. “Stuff like renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America, it just makes you think about what their priorities are.”
Larry Haith, 76, a Republican from Idaho, said he generally trusts the federal government.
“Generally speaking, I’ve got more confidence in the federal government today than I’ve had in years,” he said.
Kim Murza, 45, a Democrat from Colorado, said she has faith in the country’s ability to run fair elections but blames the Trump administration for eroding trust.
“My concern is more about what the current administration is doing,” Murza said. “I think they are doing whatever they can to try to put that distrust in people’s minds.”
The findings come after a year and a half of upheaval in the executive branch. Trump moved to end longstanding programs and shutter entire agencies after returning to the White House. Thousands of federal employees have been fired or left their jobs, substantially reducing the ranks of government statisticians and leading experts to warn about risks to data quality.
Recent changes to health advice have put doctors and medical organizations at odds with the Trump administration on vaccination recommendations. Earlier this year, the Environmental Protection Agency rescinded a scientific finding that has underpinned government action to fight climate change for more than a decade.
The poll of 1,036 adults was conducted July 29-Aug. 10 using NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. Online and telephone interviews were conducted with adults age 18 and older in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.
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