Month: February 2025

POLLS: Pres. Musk Is Very Unpopular

Americans don't like his drastic, haphazard chainsaw cuts to their government

Jon Ponder

Based on newly released survey results, MAGA party leader Donald Trump, who lives and breathes polling, has reason to regret selling his presidency to billionaire South African immigrant Elon Musk. A series of polls marking the first full month of the Musk presidency reveals widespread public disfavor with the drug-addled unelected president:

  • A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Feb. 20, 2025, found Pres. Musk with a -16 approval: 55 percent unfavorable, 39 percent favorable.
  • The Pew Poll released Feb. 19 found Musk’s approval at -12: 54 percent unfavorable, 42 favorable.
  • The Economist/YouGov poll released Feb. 19 showed Musk in better shape with just a -6 approval: 49 percent unfavorable, 46 percent favorable.
  • In the latest Quinnipiac University poll, Musk’s role in government had a -12 approval rating: 54 percent approve, 42 percent disapprove.

The Economist/YouGov poll found that Musk’s drastic, haphazard chainsaw approach to downsizing the U.S. government by firing hundreds of thousands of federal workers has -17 approval: 51 percent disapprove, 34 percent approve.

Trump Admin Considers Destroying $500 Million in COVID Tests

Buck Banks

$500 million

“The Trump administration has been evaluating the costs of destroying or disposing of tens of millions of coronavirus tests that would otherwise be provided free to Americans,” the Washington Post reports. “Internal documents show that officials in the Department of Health and Human Services have been considering two options: either disposing of or continuing to ship more than 160 million tests, valued at more than half a billion dollars. Only a small fraction of the tests are expired.”

Musk and DOGE Are NOT Saving the Government Money

Buck Banks

$30 billion a day

The Economist: “Every working day the Treasury publishes a statement detailing withdrawals of cash from its primary deposit account, providing the best high-frequency indicator of government spending. Since Donald Trump took office a little more than three weeks ago, outlays have averaged $30bn a day. Compare that with the same period last year under Joe Biden: federal spending back then came to about $26bn a day. … Outflows from the Treasury have actually risen since January 28th, when Mr Musk first claimed his ‘Department of Government Efficiency’, or DOGE, was saving the federal government $1bn a day.”