Poll: Voters are wary of bankers in Trump's Cabinet

A view of the Goldman Sachs building in lower Manhattan.
(Image credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Voters don't trust Donald Trump's decision to bring on bankers to his team or his assurances that he will keep his business interests separate while in the White House, a new Politico/Morning Consult poll found. In the poll, 35 percent of people said that they would be less likely to support a president's Cabinet nominee if he or she was a banker, and 39 percent said presidents ought to nominate fewer bankers.

Additionally, over half of Americans, 52 percent, said they believe Trump's "business interests and positions" will affect his decisions as president "a lot" with another 29 percent saying they would have "some" effect, although voters are more split on if that effect will be positive or negative.

Trump has nominated Steven Mnuchin to be treasury secretary, named Gary Cohn to be director of the National Economics Council, and tapped Steve Bannon as his senior adviser; Mnuchin and Bannon are formerly of Goldman Sachs, while Cohn is the investment bank's president. Additionally, billionaire investor Wilbur Ross was nominated by Trump for commerce secretary.

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Trump's intentions with his company have been murky, too. Trump canceled a press conference in which he was expected to discuss his plans for his business and has said that "my executives will run it with my children." Half of voters said Trump should "put all of his financial assets into a blind trust," 58 percent said he shouldn't maintain holdings in foreign countries, and 50 percent said he should give up maintaining his hotel chain.

The poll was conducted Dec. 8-11, reaching 2,000 voters, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percent. Further analysis of the results can be read at Politico here and here.

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.