Poll: Most Americans think Supreme Court favors Trump

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A new Marquette Law School Poll national survey finds 61% of adults think the U.S. Supreme Court is ruling for President Donald Trump “almost always” or “most of the time,” while 39% say the court is ruling for him “only some of the time” or “almost never.”

Republicans and independents are less inclined to think the court favors Trump, with 45% of Republicans and 47% of independents saying the court rules for Trump almost always or most of the time. Small majorities say it rules for him only some of the time or almost never, a total of 55% and 53% respectively for Republicans and independents. Democrats, in contrast, are much more convinced that the court favors Trump, with 79% saying the court rules for Trump almost always or most of the time.

When the question is posed in terms of how challengers to Trump fare at the court, the results are very similar, with 36% saying challengers almost always or mostly win (therefore Trump loses) and 64% saying challengers mostly lose (therefore Trump wins).

A 57% majority say the court is going out of its way to avoid a ruling Trump might refuse to obey, while 43% say the court is not avoiding such a ruling. On this question, the partisan divide is larger, with 67% of Republicans saying the court is not avoiding ruling against Trump, while 80% of Democrats say it is avoiding ruling against Trump. Among independents, 60% say the court is avoiding ruling against Trump.

The public is about evenly divided on whether the justices’ decisions are motivated mainly by the law, 48%, or mainly by politics, 52%. Among Republicans, 64% say the law is the main motivation, while 67% of Democrats and 57% of independents say politics are the main motivation.

Approval for the Supreme Court rose to 46% in May from 42% in April. This reverses a general downward trend since March 2025 when approval of the court was 54%. Republicans are much more approving of the court, 76%, than are independents, 39% or Democrats, 20%.

Attention to news about the court has declined slightly since last November. In May, 24% say they heard a lot about the court in the last month, down from 30% in November. Attention to the court is typically cyclical, peaking around the end of each court term in late June each year and falling off after.

The survey was conducted May 20-26, interviewing 1,001 adults nationwide, with a margin of error of +/-3.4 percentage points.