American confidence in the nation’s most influential institutions has fallen to some of the lowest levels ever recorded, according to a new Gallup survey, underscoring a growing crisis of trust that stretches from government and media to medicine and education.
The poll, conducted during the first half of June, found that confidence in most of the 14 institutions Gallup has tracked since 1993 is either at or hovering just above record lows.
Trust Continues to Erode
Only 28 percent of Americans said they have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in the medical system, tying the lowest rating Gallup has ever recorded.
Public schools fared even worse, earning the confidence of just 27 percent of respondents—only one percentage point above their all-time low.
Newspapers ranked among the least trusted in the survey, with just 17 percent expressing confidence in them.
Congress once again finished near the bottom, with only 9 percent of Americans saying they trust the legislative branch.
Confidence in television news was similarly bleak at 14 percent, while both the criminal justice system and big business received just 17 percent.
Even institutions that traditionally enjoyed broad bipartisan respect have not escaped the decline. Confidence in the military stood at 61 percent—still one of the highest ratings in the survey, but just one point above its lowest level on record.
Trust in the Supreme Court measured 27 percent, while organized religion received 33 percent.
Small Businesses Remain an Exception
One notable outlier was small business.
At 67 percent, small businesses earned the highest confidence rating of any institution measured by Gallup, significantly outperforming government agencies, corporations, media organizations, and educational institutions.
Banks received 28 percent confidence, while organized labor stood at 26 percent.
Gallup also included newer categories such as higher education and large technology companies, both of which tested at or near their lowest recorded levels.
A Country Divided by Politics
The survey suggests Americans are no longer evaluating institutions through a common civic lens but increasingly through partisan affiliation.
Republicans reported dramatically higher confidence than Democrats in institutions like the military, law enforcement, the presidency, organized religion, the Supreme Court, Congress, big business, and technology companies.
Democrats, on the other hand, expressed significantly greater confidence in higher education, newspapers, and television news.
The largest partisan divide was on the presidency.
Republicans were more than 18 times as likely as Democrats to express confidence in President Donald Trump’s administration.
The findings reinforce the growing reality that many Americans’ trust in institutions now depends less on the institution itself than on which political party they believe controls it.
Years of Controversy Have Taken Their Toll
The collapse in institutional confidence did not happen overnight.
The early months of the COVID-19 pandemic briefly produced a surge in public trust as Americans looked to government agencies, medical experts, and other institutions for guidance during an unprecedented crisis. That increase proved short-lived.
In the years since, a series of high-profile controversies has further eroded public confidence.
Public health officials faced criticism over changing guidance on masks, school closures, vaccine effectiveness, and the origins of COVID-19. Media organizations have been accused of bias, selective reporting, and suppressing stories that later proved credible.
Can Trust Be Rebuilt?
Gallup found that the average confidence level across all 14 long-tracked institutions now stands at just 27 percent—only one point above the record low reached in 2023.
It marks the fifth consecutive year that average confidence has remained below 30 percent.
While Gallup noted that previous periods of declining trust have eventually been followed by modest rebounds, those recoveries have rarely restored confidence to earlier levels.
The broader trend suggests America faces something more profound than dissatisfaction with any single institution. Whether the issue is Congress, the media, medicine, higher education, or the courts, the public increasingly approaches institutions with skepticism rather than deference.
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