Four months ago, Donald Trump delivered the first national address of his second term, speaking to a joint session of Congress, led by his own party. “I returned to this chamber tonight to report that America’s momentum is back, our spirit is back, our pride is back,” the Republican president boasted.
Four months later, it’s worth dwelling on whom he included when referencing “our.” The Washington Post reported:
Just 58 percent of adults in the United States are ‘extremely’ or ‘very’ proud to be American, according to a Gallup poll released this week — the lowest level recorded by the company in the more than two decades since it started including the question in surveys. The dramatic decline was largely driven by Democrats, while most Republicans had strong feelings of national pride, according to the poll published Monday — an indicator of the deepening partisan divide in the U.S. Younger Americans, particularly Gen Z, are also less likely to be proud of their country compared with previous generations.
The slide among self-identified independent voters was especially striking: As the 21st century got underway, 84% of independents described themselves as “extremely” or “very” proud to be an American. As the second Trump term gets underway, that total has slid to 53%, the lowest since Gallup began keeping track.
“At the beginning of the 21st century, U.S. adults were nearly unanimous in saying they were extremely or very proud to be Americans. But that national unity has eroded over the past 25 years due to a combination of political and generational changes,” Gallup said in its analysis. (Click the link for more information on the survey’s methodology and margin of error.)
Referencing earlier data from Gallup, the Post’s report added, “the decline in national pride has come amid waning optimism about the future, widespread dissatisfaction with the direction of the country as well as ‘unfavorable images of both parties, and intense partisan rancor during the Trump and Biden administrations.’”
While it’s true that this is only one poll, and a related Fox News poll offered alternative data, Gallup’s results suggested partisan chest-thumping isn’t exactly fueling patriotic attitudes from much of the public.
Early on in Trump’s second inaugural address, he declared, “[O]ur top priority will be to create a nation that is proud, prosperous and free.” Nearly six months later, the Republican appears to be falling short on each of these goals.








