Good morning. I’m Anjali Huynh, a political reporter for the Globe. I’m guest-writing Starting Point today to review some interesting aspects of a Globe/Suffolk University poll out today. (Ian Prasad Philbrick will be back tomorrow.)
But first, here’s what else is going on:
- President Trump deployed 700 Marines and 2,000 more National Guard troops to respond to ongoing anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles. He endorsed the idea of arresting California Governor Gavin Newsom after Trump’s border czar suggested the possibility and Newsom dared him to do so.
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired outside experts who advise the CDC on vaccine policy, apparently breaking a pledge he made to get confirmed as health secretary.
- Boston’s tech sector has slightly shrunk in recent years, but the Globe’s annual list of the most influential people in tech shows an innovation space poised for a comeback. Here’s more about the ranking.
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TODAY’S STARTING POINT
He’s hacked away billions in funding for industries that power New England’s economy. He’s attacked progressive values of diversity and inclusion, directed federal officers to seize immigrants off the street, and punished colleges that won’t capitulate to his demands. His administration and other Republicans have even targeted Boston’s mayor directly, summoning her to D.C. to testify before Congress mere weeks after giving birth.
You could, in short, make the case that President Trump’s second-term agenda is deliberately hostile to much of the region.
Turns out, the animosity is mutual.
A strong majority of voters across Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island — roughly 68 percent — disapprove of Trump’s job in office so far, while just 29 percent said they approved, according to a Boston Globe and Suffolk University poll out today. That’s dramatically lower than the roughly 43 percent of voters nationally who told Gallup in May they approved of Trump’s time in office, a striking divide that shows just how much this part of the country dislikes Trump’s agenda.
That assessment is far from surprising: All three states covered by the Globe survey backed former vice president Kamala Harris in November and are represented by left-leaning politicians in Congress. And while not as stark as today’s New England-focused findings, national polls show that Trump’s approval rating is still lower than his disapproval numbers.
Still, our results show just how dimly many New Englanders in these states view Trump as the new administration has singled out key people, industries, and institutions here.
Here are three other interesting takeaways from today’s poll:
Federal funding and personnel cuts are especially hurting folks in the region.
David Paleologos, director of Suffolk’s Political Research Center, said cuts wrought by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, appear to be driving distaste for the administration, which he called “a unique problem to this survey.” About 40 percent of those surveyed said they or someone close to them were affected by DOGE cuts, Paleologos said, perhaps not surprising in a region known for its hospitals, universities, and research centers.
While some nationally still approve of Trump’s immigration policy, many New Englanders do not.
Border security and immigration — issues key to Trump’s reelection — have remained Trump’s most favorable policy areas nationally. A CBS News and YouGov poll this month, for instance, found 54 percent of Americans supported his program to deport undocumented immigrants.
The view is decidedly different here: The vast majority of respondents said they were at least somewhat sympathetic toward migrants who have come to New England and disapproved of how federal immigration officials have handled arrests and deportations under Trump. More than half opposed deporting those living illegally in the United States.
That builds on support Massachusetts voters expressed for immigrants in October in a separate Globe/Suffolk poll focused just on that state. Even in the throes of the state’s migrant crisis, a majority said the state should still offer migrants temporary shelter and help them get health care and other assistance.
Voters aren’t unhappy only with Trump.
Democrats, for their part, are also unpopular among voters: About 56 percent said they would rate the performance of national Democratic leaders in addressing key issues as “poor.”
But Trump’s dismal approval numbers come as voters here are increasingly clamoring for more resistance to his policies. Although the 2026 midterms are about 17 months away, if these surveys are any indication, it’s unclear whether the rightward tilt New England saw last fall will last.
Read more about the poll, and explore the details.
🧩 1 Down: Overhead Chicago trains | ☔️ 71° Unsettled, with showers
POINTS OF INTEREST
Boston
- City Hall scandal: Marwa Khudaynazar, a fired City Hall employee, claims Mayor Michelle Wu dismissed her last month to protect Segun Idowu, a top aide Khudaynazar accuses of propositioning her. Idowu denies sexual harassment.
- PR: This year’s Boston Marathon raised $50.4 million for nonprofits, a record.
- Harassment allegation: Alex Cooper, the top-trending podcast host and former Boston University soccer player, accused the former team coach of sexual harassment and said the school failed to act on her claims.
- Boston budget: Wu approved a $4.8 billion budget for the next fiscal year, including City Council amendments that put more money toward housing, youth jobs, and mental health.
- Welcome to the show: The Red Sox called up Roman Anthony (above), MLB’s top prospect, from Triple A Worcester. He made his Fenway debut last night.
Massachusetts and New England
- Karen Read retrial: The judge denied the defense’s latest motion for a mistrial and ruled that a forensic pathologist wasn’t qualified to testify for the defense about potential dog bite wounds to John O’Keefe’s body.
- Gun control: Since a 2010 Supreme Court ruling that made it easier to own a gun, the firearm mortality rate among children grew most in New Hampshire, a study found.
- First Amendment: The ACLU of Rhode Island accused the Smithfield School District of censoring a critic on social media who called for the superintendent’s resignation.
Trump administration
- Research cuts: Federal funding for scientific research in New England has helped produce weight-loss drugs, a forerunner to GPS systems, and other breakthroughs. Trump’s billions of dollars in cuts to research in the region — which the Globe is tracking — threaten that decades-long collaboration.
- Scholarly solidarity: 24 universities, more than 12,000 Harvard alumni, and 21 state attorneys general filed briefs supporting Harvard in its lawsuit against the administration.
- Strings attached: Williams College paused accepting federal research grants while university officials review the administration’s efforts to restrict schools’ diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.
- More protests: Hundreds of SEIU union members rallied at Boston City Hall to protest the arrest of the union’s California branch president, David Huerta, after he allegedly blocked ICE agents from detaining people last week. Huerta was released on a $50,000 bond yesterday. Hundreds of others protested against ICE in Providence.
The Nation and the World
- Sly Stone: The multi-instrument musician, songwriter, vocalist, and producer was behind Sly and the Family Stone’s chart-topping, psychedelia-laced funk albums. He died at age 82. (Variety)
- Dems in disarray: Democratic National Committee members accused David Hogg, the DNC’s 25-year-old vice chair, of leaking a recording in which the chair accused him of undermining the party. Hogg denied it. (NOTUS)
- Israel-Hamas war: Israel’s navy intercepted a boat with Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg on board that tried to deliver aid to Gaza. Israeli officials said they would send the aid to Gaza and that Thunberg refused to watch a 43-minute video of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 attack. (Times of Israel)
- Russia-Ukraine war: Russia launched another record-breaking number of drones and missiles against Ukraine, which said it downed nearly all of them. (Kyiv Independent)
BESIDE THE POINT
By Teresa Hanafin
🎓 ‘Superheroes with capes’: Graduates of the region’s colleges and universities got some memorable advice from commencement speakers this year.
🎵 Fading: What do Ronnie Dove of the 1960s, The Osmonds of the 1970s, and Sheena Easton of the 1980s have in common? They’re the most forgotten music stars of those decades. (Can’t Get Much Higher)
✈️ TikTok superstar detained: Khabe Lamy, whose silent videos making fun of people who overly complicate tasks have garnered him more than 162 million followers, was detained by ICE for overstaying his visa and he self-deported. The Senegal native is a citizen of Italy. (Newsweek)
⚽️ Swanning: The city’s new soccer club, Boston Legacy FC, has a new logo, and everybody seems to like it. (Boston.com)
✍🏼 Best ever! (not): Amazon has finally admitted that its site is rife with fake reviews. Under pressure from a UK regulator, it’s promising to crack down. (Quartz)
🍦 We all scream: It may be under new ownership, but the iconic Cabot’s Ice Cream and Restaurant in Newton is as popular as ever.
🚀 Air icon: Goodyear is marking the 100th anniversary of the launch of its first branded blimp this week by flying a few of them over land in Ohio where they used to be built. (AP)
💍 The Big Day: The courtship and eventual wedding of Paul English, founder of Kayak, and businesswoman Rachel Cohen was the stuff of fairy tales.
Thanks for reading Starting Point.
This newsletter was edited by Victoria McGrane and produced by Teresa Hanafin.
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Anjali Huynh can be reached at anjali.huynh@globe.com.