By Ben Sales
Nearly three quarters of American Jews disapprove of the job Donald Trump is doing as president and most dislike how he is combating antisemitism in the United States, according to a new survey.
But American Jews are less disapproving of Trump’s handling of antisemitism than they are of his overall performance, according to the survey published Thursday, Apr. 24, by the nonpartisan Jewish Electorate Institute.
The survey was conducted by the Mellman Group, led by Jewish Democratic pollster Mark Mellman, in mid-April and included 800 registered Jewish voters.
“American Jewish voters are deeply distressed about the direction in which Donald Trump is taking the country and oppose many of his key policies,” said Mellman, who also founded the advocacy group Democratic Majority for Israel, in a statement.
The survey found that 72% of American Jews disapprove of Trump’s job performance, including 67% who strongly disapprove, while 24% approve of the job he is doing, including 16% who strongly approve. Some 5% said they were uncertain.
The poll had a margin of error of 3.5%. The results roughly map to what is known about how American Jews voted in November’s election.
Trump scored poorly among Conservative, Reform and unaffiliated Jews. But among the one in 10 respondents who was Orthodox, the president fared far better: More than 71% approve of the job he is doing while fewer than 20% disapprove.
Trump has taken a number of controversial actions — including freezing billions of dollars in funds to universities, arresting non-citizen student activists and revoking student visas — in the name of fighting antisemitism. The survey did not ask about those specific actions, but it did ask whether American Jews approve of how he is handling antisemitism.
Most respondents — 56% — do not approve, while 31% do approve of how Trump is handling antisemitism. The remainder say they are not sure. A large majority of Orthodox respondents approved of his efforts to fight antisemitism, while a plurality of Conservative respondents disapproved. A majority of Reform and unaffiliated respondents also disapproved.
The survey also found that 33% of respondents ages 18 to 29, a demographic encompassing most college students and recent graduates, approved of Trump’s actions on antisemitism, while 52% disapproved.
In addition, 71% oppose Trump’s orders allowing the government to deport people without a court hearing, while 23% approve.
Large majorities also opposed other Trump domestic policies, such as his broad tariff regime, cuts to the federal government and actions to penalize law firms. More than 60% of Orthodox respondents approved of the deportations but were more split on other domestic policies.
The survey did not ask about whether American Jews approve of how Trump is handling U.S.-Israel relations or the Israel-Hamas war, a conflict in which Trump helped broker a two-month ceasefire, then repeatedly proposed a U.S. takeover of Gaza and the mass removal of its inhabitants.
The survey also did not ask whether American Jews approve of his decision to open negotiations with Iran, a move that runs counter to Israel’s preferences.
Ben Sales writes for the JTA global Jewish news source.
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