A majority of Americans believe President Donald Trump is at more risk of assassination than other recent presidents, a recent survey from the Economist/YouGov found.
The survey asked respondents, “Do you think President Trump is more or less at risk of assassination than other recent presidents?”
Across the board, 64 percent said they believe President Trump is at “more risk” of assassination than other recent presidents, compared to 31 percent who said he has “about the same” risk. Only six percent said Trump is less at risk.
Most Republicans, 81 percent, as well as independents, 63 percent, believe Trump is more at risk of assassination. A plurality of Democrats, 46 percent, say Trump is more at risk, compared to 42 percent who said he faces about the same risk.
Only 11 percent of Democrats, four percent of independents, and four percent of Republicans believe Trump is less at risk.
Notably, a plurality of individuals who voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris, 46 percent, say Trump faces about the same risk as other recent presidents, while 45 percent say he faces a greater risk.
Half of respondents believe Trump opponents’ rhetoric is at least somewhat responsible for the recent assassination attempts. Of those, 31 percent believe the rhetoric is a “great deal” responsible. Most Democrats remain in denial, as 55 percent believe the opponents’ rhetoric bears no responsibility.
The survey was taken May 1 – 4, 2026, among 1,573 U.S. adult citizens. It has a +/- 3.4 percent margin of error and comes weeks after yet another thwarted assassination attempt on President Trump, this time at the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) dinner.
The suspect, a California teacher named Cole Allen, was arrested and charged with attempting to assassinate the president. Prior to the attempted shooting, Allen took a chilling selfie and penned a manifesto detailing his intentions. He “scheduled those emails to be sent to specific people at approximately 8:30 p.m.” – right before Secret Service engaged with him, according to federal prosecutors.
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The manifesto detailed Allen’s disdain for President Trump and outlined his plan to murder Trump administration officials, although he made an exception for FBI Director Kash Patel. While Allen allegedly said members of the crowd were not his targets, he explicitly wrote that he would go through “most everyone here to get to the targets if it were absolutely necessary,” calling Trump a “pedophile, rapist, and traitor” and deeming attendees “complicit.”
Following the assassination attempt, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt held a press conference, reminding members of the media that Trump has dealt with 11 years of smears, leading to such attacks.
“When you read the manifesto of this shooter, ask yourselves, ‘How different is the rhetoric from this almost-assassin than what you read on social media and hear in various forums every single day?’” she asked. “The answer, if you’re being honest with yourself, is that there is no difference at all.”
