Poll: Trust in federal health agencies dropped sharply during Trump’s first year

A year into the second Trump administration, trust in federal health institutions, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in particular, has declined considerably while also becoming deeply partisan, according to a new poll. 

The poll, conducted by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the de Beaumont Foundation’s Public Health Listening Lab, found only 50 percent of the public says they trust health recommendations from the CDC, down from 77 percent in spring 2025.   

At the same time, state and local health departments are now substantially more trusted than federal agencies, even as the public trust in those institutions also declined. Between 2025 and 2026, trust in state public health agencies dropped from 80 percent to 66 percent, while trust in local public health agencies dropped from 82 percent to 70 percent. 

The decline in trust is being driven by partisanship, the poll found. Only 34 percent of Democrats said they trust CDC recommendations, a massive drop from 92 percent in 2025.  

Among Independents, trust in the CDC dropped from 77 percent to 47 percent.  Among Republicans, trust in the CDC increased very slightly from 63 percent to 67 percent. 

Brian C. Castrucci, president and CEO of the de Beaumont Foundation, said the increasing partisanship around public health and science is alarming, because it means that people’s perspectives on........

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