A new YouGov poll on Donald Trump's personal qualities asked more than 1,000 Americans how much each of 22 descriptions applies to him — a lot, a little, or not at all. The latest survey, which is the sixth we've conducted since just after his election in November 2024, finds that…

  • Far more Americans apply the negative descriptors to Trump than the positive ones: Arrogant is chosen by more Americans (66%) as applying to Trump a lot than any other 22 descriptions , followed by opportunistic (54%) and reckless (54%). The positive description of Trump chosen by the most Americans is intelligent (37%)
  • Negative descriptions of Trump are up, and positive ones are down: Of the 19 descriptions asked about on both the first survey and the latest one, fewer now say each of the positive traits apply a lot to Trump, and more say nearly all of the negative traits apply a lot to him
  • Fewer now see Trump as a strong leader, and more see him as ineffective: Of the traits asked about on both surveys, a strong leader has fallen the furthest as a description of Trump: 36% now say it applies to Trump a lot, down from 49% in November 2024. Ineffective has risen the most, to 42% from 32%

See the results for these YouGov polls:

Methodology: The August 12 - 16, 2026 poll was conducted among 1,089 U.S. adult citizens. Respondents were selected from YouGov's opt-in panel to be representative of U.S. adult citizens. A random sample (stratified by gender, age, race, education, geographic region, and voter registration) was selected from the 2019 American Community Survey. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, U.S. region, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent's most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 33% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 4%.

Image: Getty

What do you really think about President Trump, American politics in general, and everything else? Share your reality, join the YouGov panel, and get paid to share your thoughts. Sign up here.

Subscribe to the YouGov newsletter