NBC poll finds national pride and trust in institutions in decline

As the United States moved toward its 250th birthday, a new NBC News poll captured a country uneasy with its own civic story. Most respondents said America has already seen its best days, and more than one-fifth said they were only a little or not at all proud to be Americans.

The survey of 3,000 U.S. adults, contacted by phone and text message from May 29 through June 7, showed declines in national pride, faith in major institutions and belief in the American Dream. NBC said the share who are extremely proud to be Americans hit a record low, while Americans were split almost evenly on whether the Constitution has stood the test of time.

The military ranked highest among the institutions tested, but support for it also fell sharply. Confidence was weak across the federal government, the media and the high-tech industry, a sign that the drop in trust reaches far beyond one branch of public life.

The poll was sponsored by More Perfect, a nonpartisan nonprofit focused on advancing democracy, and conducted by Jeff Horwitt of Hart Research Associates and Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies. NBC framed the findings against a historic backdrop, pointing to the Rising Sun Chair at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, linked to George Washington and Benjamin Franklin’s post-Convention reflection on the new republic.

The reporting tied the mood to the political turbulence of the past generation, including the forever wars, the 2008 financial crisis and the pandemic. It also pointed to the rise of antiestablishment figures across the spectrum, including Donald Trump and JD Vance on the right and Bernie Sanders and Zohran Mamdani on the left.

A separate AP-NORC poll published June 8 reinforced the same broader warning. Only about one-quarter of Americans said the United States stands above all other countries, about 3 in 10 said there are better countries than the U.S., and about two-thirds said a democratically elected government is highly important to American identity, down from 80% in 2021.

That pessimism lands just as the country turns toward America250, where NBC has highlighted confusion over competing efforts, including the Trump-administration-backed Freedom 250 and the bipartisan America250 nonprofit supporting the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission, which Congress created in 2016. With pride falling and trust eroding, the next year will test whether patriotic celebration can outpace a public that is increasingly doubtful of the institutions asked to carry it forward.