A recent YouGov poll is finding that a significant number of non-Trump voters believe the US is already a dictatorship. The poll was conducted June 16-18, 2025, just before Trump’s hotly debated decision to assist Israel in bombing Iran’s nuclear sites. According to the poll, only 13% of respondents believed democracy in America was working “very well.” Over half, 56%, did not believe democracy was either working “not too well” or “not at all.”

Fifty-six percent agreed that the United States is in the midst of a “constitutional crisis,” while 24% stated they believed the US is a dictatorship. When looked at more closely, 35% of Democrats believed the US is a dictatorship, while 30% of independents believed the same. Seven percent of Republicans even said they believed so. Fifty-eight percent stated they believed the country is more politically divided.

The current poll shows a rising belief that the United States is under authoritarian control. The same poll conducted February 3 – 6, 2025 not long after Trump took office found that 18% agreed that the US is a dictatorship. Amongst Democrats, that number was 27% and amongst Independents it was 18%. How the recent events between Israel and Iran might impact those numbers has yet to be determined.

Trump has often struck a dictatorial figure amongst his critics, with a recent article in The New Yorker featuring the title, “Donald Trump’s Dictator Cosplay.” The article cites Trump’s actions in Los Angeles to quell anti-ICE riots, which included threats to send in the military, in contrast to Trump’s own grandiose visions of a US miliary parade. “How telling, then, that the President who, in his first term, was frustrated in his attempt to throw a military-themed party for America is not only getting his parade this time but doing it on his own birthday. (A mere coincidence, according to Trump’s defenders, who tell us that, really, it’s only the “haters” who would bring up the President’s birthday since the actual purpose of the parade is to celebrate the Army’s two-hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary.),” the article stated.

The YouGov poll also showed an overall sense of fear in Americans beyond concerns of a homegrown dictatorship. 68% of Americans being either very or somewhat scared about world events. And, once again, this is before the United States had even bombed Iran or entered into the on-again off-again ceasefire between Israel and Iran. The currently shaky truce and how Trump intends to handle it, with or without the assistance of Congress, could greatly impact such future polling.