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On the heels of an historic Rasmussen poll revealing that, for the first time, a full 50% of the country believes the United States is on the right track under President Donald Trump, comes an unsettling new Gallup poll revealing that a record-low 58% of U.S. adults say they are “extremely” (41%) or “very” (17%) proud to be an American. This represents a plunge of nine percentage points from last year and five points below the previous low of 2020.

The 41% who are “extremely proud” is slightly better than the prior lows of 38% in 2022 and 39% in 2023, so therefore most of the decline this year is attributable to the nearly 50% drop in the percentage of those who are “very proud” (from 32% to 17%)

Nineteen percent say they are “moderately” proud, 11% “only a little” proud, and 9% “not at all.” That combined 20% on the lower end of the scale essentially ties the record 21% measured in 2020. As recently as 2018, fewer than 10% of U.S. adults had consistently stated that they had little or no national pride. The percentage who hold little or no pride in America today – only seven years later – is more than double that.

Gallup first began taking this poll in January 2001. At that time, a whopping 87% said they were extremely or very proud. After the 9/11 jihadist attacks later that same year, the number understandably jumped to 90% and stayed there or higher between 2002 and 2004. The percentage who were extremely or very proud hovered around 83% from 2005 until we hit a new low of 75% in 2017 – Trump’s first year in office. That drop is no doubt explained by Democrat shock and horror over that first Trump administration. Anyway, national pride has continued to diminish since then.

One conclusion which will surprise no one is that Democrats are mostly responsible for this latest drop in U.S. pride. Only 36% said they are extremely or very proud, a steep dive from 62% a year ago. This is only the second time Democrats’ pride has fallen below the majority level, along with a 42% reading in 2020, the last year of the first Trump administration. That poll was conducted during the early stages of the COVID pandemic and shortly after the death of George Floyd.

The pride of Independents has also hit a new low, with 53% claiming a great deal of pride, down seven points from the previous low of last year.

Republican pride, by contrast, has typically registered above 90%, including 92% this year, up from 85% in 2024. The only years in which fewer than nine in ten Republicans were proud were 2016 and 2020 through 2024. In all of those years except 2020, a Democrat president was in office.

The Gallup poll also observed that “each new generation [is] significantly less likely than the previous one to say they are extremely or very proud to be an American:

The youngest two generations, millennials (born between 1980 and 1996) and Generation Z (born after 1996), are the most distinct. From 2021 to 2025, less than half (41%) of adults who belong to Generation Z have been extremely or very proud to be Americans, compared with 58% of millennials. The rate increases to 71% of Generation X, 75% of the baby boom generation and 83% of the Silent Generation.

[…]

As might be expected given the partisan trends, Democrats are largely responsible for declining U.S. pride within each generation. Comparing data from the past 10 years with the prior 15 years, pride among Democrats in each birth cohort has declined by at least 10 points, with larger drops of 21 points for Gen X Democrats and 32 points for millennial Democrats.

[…]

Notably, more Gen Z Democrats say they have little or no pride in being an American (32%) than say they are extremely or very proud.

“Each generation is less patriotic than the prior generation, and Gen Z is definitely much lower than anybody else,” said Jeffrey Jones, a senior editor at Gallup. “But even among the older generations, we see that they’re less patriotic than the ones before them, and they’ve become less patriotic over time. That’s primarily driven by Democrats within those generations.”

Older Republicans have essentially the same high degree of pride today as they did in the earlier part of this century. Gen Z Republicans are far less proud, but still much more so than Gen Z Democrats and Independents.

The takeaway from the poll: national unity has eroded over the past 25 years – mostly in the past decade – from a nearly unanimous percentage saying they were extremely or very proud to be Americans. But “greater pessimism about the economic prospects for young people, widespread dissatisfaction with the state of the nation, greater ideological divides between the parties, unfavorable images of both parties, and intense partisan rancor during the Trump and Biden administrations” have taken their toll.

In related news, rising Republican star Wesley Hunt, a congressman from Texas, has been leading an effort in Congress since 2023 to designate July as American Pride Month, and called on President Trump this week to issue a national proclamation honoring America’s heroes, values, and founding ideals, noting that “no president in our history understands the value of patriotism and passing that down more than President Trump.”

His resolution emphasizes American exceptionalism and pays tribute to “brave patriots” from the Revolutionary War through the modern era. It recognizes the “monumental achievements of the United States of America,” and promotes teaching American history “based not on what’s in fashion but what’s important,” echoing President Ronald Reagan’s farewell address.

Hunt warns that if America “is to remain the last best hope of earth, then the next generation must understand what made it so.” He stated that America is “tired of cultural tribalism, tired of performative virtue-signaling, and tired of watching our national identity hijacked by agendas that cater to a loud but narrow minority.”

He went on to say, “If corporations and left-wing activists can co-opt June to promote their ideology under the banner of ‘Pride Month,’ then surely July, the month of our founding, can and must be reclaimed to honor something far greater: American Pride Month.”

Hunt said, “This initiative… was born out of a desire to celebrate the extraordinary individuals and timeless values that have defined our republic, from the patriots of 1776 to the leaders of today who continue to defend freedom and preserve our way of life.”

He concluded, “From sea to shining sea, let’s make patriotism cool again. Let’s not just celebrate freedom on the 4th of July, let’s honor our founding, our flag, and our future every single day throughout this sacred month.”

Amen to that.

Follow Mark Tapson at Culture Warrior