89% of Americans See Widespread U.S. Government Corruption

Americans disagree on almost everything in politics, but a new Gallup poll has found one striking area of consensus: government corruption.

A record 89% of U.S. adults now say corruption is widespread throughout the government, the highest reading in Gallup’s 20-year series and 10 percentage points above last year.

The finding is notable not only because of the headline number, but because the belief crosses party lines. 91% of Democrats, 90% of independents and 83% of Republicans now say corruption is widespread.

The U.S. Is Moving Against the Developed-World Trend

The longer-term comparison makes the result more unusual.

Between 2010 and 2025, Gallup’s U.S. readings generally remained between 72% and 79%. The latest 89% figure therefore represents a sharp break higher rather than a small annual fluctuation.

The U.S. has also increasingly diverged from other advanced economies.

Among OECD countries, the median share of people describing government corruption as widespread was 59% in 2025. The U.S. was already at 79% that year, putting it at the top of the OECD before the latest 10-point surge.

Since 2023, Gallup says only four of the 132 countries where it asked the question recorded readings nominally higher than America’s current 89%.

That makes the latest result less a normal partisan complaint and more a broader institutional confidence problem.

Democrats Drove the Latest Jump

The largest recent change came from Democrats.

Only 57% of Democrats described corruption as widespread in 2024, Joe Biden’s final year in office. That climbed to 76% in 2025 and reached 91% this year under President Donald Trump.

Republican views moved far less, with roughly eight in 10 continuing to describe corruption as widespread despite their party controlling the White House and Congress.

That difference suggests perceptions are partly shaped by who holds power, but the numbers are now high enough across both parties that dissatisfaction cannot be explained by partisanship alone.

The timing is particularly relevant as Congress debates ethics rules around financial conflicts and digital assets. Coinpaper has followed the CLARITY Act ethics fight, including proposals restricting senior officials from profiting from crypto businesses while in office.

Those negotiations have repeatedly become a barrier to crypto legislation. A separate Coinpaper report showed how Trump-related crypto conflicts complicated bipartisan support, while lawmakers have pushed for stronger ethics safeguards.

Americans Trust Business More Than Government

Gallup found another striking divide.

Perceived corruption in U.S. businesses also increased, but only to 71%. That leaves an 18-point gap between perceptions of corruption in government and business — the widest Gallup has recorded in the U.S.

The poll does not establish that actual corruption has increased by the same amount. It measures public perception.

But politically and economically, perception matters.

When nearly nine in ten Americans believe corruption is widespread, debates over regulation, conflicts of interest and government oversight begin from an unusually deep level of skepticism.