6 in 10 Americans say Trump is profiting unethically or illegally from presidency: AP-NORC Poll

About six in 10 Americans believe US President Donald Trump is profiting from the presidency either illegally or through unethical conduct, while a majority say he has placed significant emphasis on his personal financial interests since returning to office, according to a new Associated Press-NORC poll.

The survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that about 40% of US adults believe Trump is profiting illegally, while roughly 20% say his conduct is unethical but not illegal. Only about one in five respondents said he was doing nothing wrong, with a similar proportion saying they did not know enough to judge, reports AP.

The findings come as Trump's family business expands into new ventures, including cryptocurrency, while benefiting from policy changes made by his administration.

The poll found that 56% of US adults believe Trump has placed "a lot" of emphasis on his personal businesses since returning to the White House. A similar share, 54%, said he has given that level of attention to the business interests of his friends and family.

By contrast, only about one-quarter said Trump had placed "a lot" of emphasis on the country as a whole, while roughly one in 10 said he had focused heavily on people like them.

Questions over Trump family business interests

The White House has repeatedly dismissed allegations that Trump and his family are benefiting financially from his presidency, maintaining that the president has no conflicts of interest and acts in the country's interests.

However, Trump's financial disclosure filed in June reported more than $1 billion in income from new cryptocurrency ventures after his administration eased regulation of the sector, according to the AP report.

One of the ventures received a $500 million investment after Trump's election from a United Arab Emirates business linked to the country's royal family. It also received support from a cryptocurrency company founded by a Chinese billionaire facing legal trouble in the United States.

In real estate, the Trump Organization has struck eight foreign deals during the first year of his presidency, including in countries where governments have significant influence over private businesses, the report said.

Trump has also reversed a self-imposed restriction from his first term that prevented his family from pursuing private-sector deals overseas. He previously dismissed concerns about conflicts of interest, telling The New York Times that "I found out that nobody cared".

Partisan divide over allegations

Views of Trump's conduct differ sharply by political affiliation. About eight in 10 Democrats said they believe he has acted illegally, compared with around three in 10 independents and one in 10 Republicans.

Republicans were more likely to say Trump was doing nothing wrong or that they lacked enough information to assess the allegations. About one-quarter of Republicans said he had placed "a lot" of emphasis on his personal business interests, while roughly half said he had given that level of attention to the country.

Some Trump supporters argued that his private business activities did not necessarily interfere with his presidential responsibilities. Others compared the scrutiny of his family's business interests with past controversies involving the family of former President Joe Biden.

But some voters who supported Trump in the 2024 election expressed disappointment. Oscar Delgado, a Michigan factory worker who voted for Trump hoping for improvements, accused the president of "turning greedy".

The poll was conducted from 24 to 28 September among 2,140 US adults using NORC's probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel. The margin of sampling error for the overall adult population is plus or minus 2.9% points.