Americans' trust in Washington falls to near-record low

Time reports that only 17% of Americans trust the government in the nation’s capital to do what is right “just about always” or “most of the time,” according to recent Pew Research Center polling — a five-percentage-point drop since 2024 and a near-record low since the question was first asked.

Pew data show trust has been below 50% in various surveys for more than 40 years and under 30% for the past two decades. When first asked in 1958 nearly three in four respondents said they trusted the government, and that rose to 77% in 1964 before slipping to 65% in 1966. The article links the dramatic fall in the late 1960s and 1970s to the Vietnam War, with Columbia University history professor Lien-Hang T.

Nguyen saying, “The Vietnam War revealed that presidents … obfuscated, mishandled, or outright lied to the American people.” A second large decline came amid the Watergate scandal; trust was about 54% in 1970 and fell to 36% by 1974. Public trust has not returned to earlier highs, though it has risen to around 45% on multiple occasions and climbed back over 50% briefly after Sept.

Key Topics

Politics, Pew Research Center, Vietnam War, Watergate, Donald Trump, Lien-hang T. Nguyen