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Dream insights as a leading indicator of shifts in public opinion of Donald Trump

Key take-aways

  • Over a nine-year period, an increase in dreams featuring Donald Trump alongside apocalyptic or immigration-related themes consistently predicted declines in his favorability ratings one month later.

  • The pattern remained statistically reliable across multiple political events, reinforcing the connection between collective dream content and shifts in public opinion.

  • These findings demonstrate that dream analysis can detect emerging sentiment shifts before traditional polling, offering a novel early-warning metric for political perception.

The challenge

The United States is more politically polarized than ever before, and much of the upheaval over the past decade has centered around Donald Trump. Whether viewed as a political outsider disrupting the status quo or a destabilizing force, his leadership has had a profound impact on the American psyche. Given his unprecedented presence in public discourse, it is no surprise that Trump frequently appears in people’s dreams.

At the time of this study (January 2025), Trump was in the early days of his second term. The political landscape was evolving too rapidly for traditional polling to keep pace, and increasing social tensions discouraged open political discourse. As a result, self-reported attitudes were becoming less reliable, with individuals hesitant to disclose their true opinions.

A key question was whether Trump’s second presidency was being subconsciously perceived in the same way as his first—or whether public concerns and associations had evolved over time.

Dreams provide an unfiltered, real-time window into public sentiment, offering unique insight into how Trump is subconsciously perceived beyond explicit political statements.

The insights

Dreams explicitly mentioning Donald Trump were analyzed over a 112-month period, with four key themes identified through topic modeling techniques:

Existential Threats & Societal Collapse. Dreams featuring apocalyptic imagery—the end of the world, societal breakdown, catastrophic destruction, or irreversible collapse.

Celebrity & Entertainment Industry. Dreams associating Trump with celebrity culture, media, and entertainment, including references to television, movies, scandals, and his persona beyond politics.

Sexual & Romantic Themes. Dreams involving sexuality, romance, physical intimacy, and attraction, reflecting subconscious associations with Trump in a deeply personal or symbolic way.

Immigration & Border Issues. Dreams referencing immigration, borders, deportation, and citizenship, including both explicit policy-related elements and metaphorical representations of invasion, restriction, and exclusion.

Trump appears in dreams as a symbol of crisis, power, and controversy.

"It's the end of the world, and I am alone. I don't mind, though. I'm knocking on doors and then see big tall white buildings down the street, so I run towards them. I go to the building on the left and knock like there's no tomorrow. Trump opens the door, and I'm like, oh okay... I ask if I can come inside, and he says yes. "

•

"It's the end of the world, and I am alone. I don't mind, though. I'm knocking on doors and then see big tall white buildings down the street, so I run towards them. I go to the building on the left and knock like there's no tomorrow. Trump opens the door, and I'm like, oh okay... I ask if I can come inside, and he says yes. " •

"I am part of a talent show with 4 judges: Donald Trump, Jay Park, Bambam, and a fourth I can't remember. The setting is open, like at a pool or beach. Donald Trump is like the Simon Cowell of the judges. I am one of the first contestants and I fail, so I sit at the judges' table to keep myself amused."

•

"I am part of a talent show with 4 judges: Donald Trump, Jay Park, Bambam, and a fourth I can't remember. The setting is open, like at a pool or beach. Donald Trump is like the Simon Cowell of the judges. I am one of the first contestants and I fail, so I sit at the judges' table to keep myself amused." •

"I wake up in my dream to see Donald Trump peeking in the bedroom window. I panic and turn over to wake up my husband who is sleeping next to me. When I pull the cover down, instead of my husband, it is Donald Trump who sits up fully dressed in a blue suit."

•

"I wake up in my dream to see Donald Trump peeking in the bedroom window. I panic and turn over to wake up my husband who is sleeping next to me. When I pull the cover down, instead of my husband, it is Donald Trump who sits up fully dressed in a blue suit." •

"I am a construction worker for Trump's border wall. The wall is 100 meters high, 6 inches thick, made out of bricks, and on the last 15 meters, it has a 15-degree slant towards the Mexican side. I am working on the top, finishing up the barbed wire. I look down and see Trump."

•

"I am a construction worker for Trump's border wall. The wall is 100 meters high, 6 inches thick, made out of bricks, and on the last 15 meters, it has a 15-degree slant towards the Mexican side. I am working on the top, finishing up the barbed wire. I look down and see Trump." •

Trump dreams have evolved over time. Dream data reveals that the public’s unconscious perception of Trump shifted significantly between the year preceding his first term (2016) and the year preceding his second term (2024).

  • Sexual and immigration-related Trump dreams have declined.
    The prevalence of sexual and immigration-related dreams involving Trump was significantly lower in the 2024 election cycle compared to 2016. This suggests that public preoccupation with these topics has decreased over time, likely due to the normalization of Trump’s policies and past controversies.

  • Trump’s celebrity status remains a core association. Despite his transition from celebrity to politician, the frequency of celebrity-related Trump dreams has remained steady over the years. This highlights how Trump’s persona as a media figure remains deeply embedded in public consciousness, regardless of his political trajectory.

  • The most striking trend is a sharp U-shaped trajectory in apocalyptic-themed Trump dreams. Apocalyptic associations peaked during Trump’s first political rise in 2015–2016. They declined over time as his presidency became an established reality. They have now surged again with his return to the White House. This suggests that Trump’s presidency is consistently perceived as a period of disruption, uncertainty, and profound change, sparking widespread subconscious anxieties.

CHANGES IN TRUMP DREAMS OCCUR ONE MONTH BEFORE POLLING FIGURES CHANGE.

When people dream more about Trump, his polling favorability increases. The total count of Trump dreams correlates positively (p<.001) with Trump polling favorability with one month lead. Scores normalized and shown monthy.

In addition, increases in certain themes predicted drops in Trump’'s popularity. Trump dreams including themes of apocalyptic societal collapse and immigration & boarder issues correlate negatively with Trump polling favorability with a one month lead (p<.001; <0.05).

So what?

Traditional polling faces major challenges in politically charged environments—people may be reluctant to share their true opinions, and fast-moving events can render poll results outdated by the time they are published. This case study demonstrates that dream data offers a real-time lens into public sentiment, revealing subconscious concerns that precede measurable shifts in opinion.

As this case study demonstrates, dream data functions as an early-warning system for Trump’s polling trends. This suggests that changes in how Trump is subconsciously processed emerge before they appear in explicit polling data.

By integrating large-scale dream analytics into strategic forecasting, political analysts, researchers, and organizations can gain earlier, more nuanced insights into public sentiment shifts—not just in electoral politics, but also in public perception of brands, leaders, and cultural phenomena.

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