Just over two weeks since sending Donald Trump back to the White House, Americans are hopeful the president-elect can quickly improve their personal finances, but remain deeply divided on many of his most talked about campaign promises, a new Scripps News/Ipsos poll found.
A slight majority, 51%, say they expect their own economic situation to improve in the next year. And large swaths of Americans support campaign promises of eliminating taxes on tips and downsizing the federal government.
But there remains little consensus beyond the party’s most faithful supporters on how to handle issues like immigration, tariffs and energy and the environment.
“If you're a Republican, you're feeling better about your personal financial situation, the economy as a whole, and foreign policy than you were in October,” said Mallory Newall, vice president of public affairs at Ipsos. “And if you're a Democrat and some independents, you're feeling worse.”
And on hot-button issues like pardoning January 6th rioters or preventing women from participating in military combat — there's widespread opposition.
Cautious Optimism On The Economy
Economic optimism is driven mostly by Republicans, with nearly eight in ten saying they expect their financial futures to turn brighter in 2025, compared to half of independents and just 30% of Democrats.
Still, Americans overall are skeptical that prices will come down over the next year. Just over four in ten respondents think inflation and the price of goods will decrease during that same period.
A Trump proposal that does enjoy widespread popularity is eliminating taxes on tips and overtime hours. Sixty-six percent of respondents, and a majority of those of all political parties, said they somewhat or strongly support the Trump campaign promise.
Americans, however, seem less eager to get into a trade war. Nearly half of respondents approved of new tariffs on imported goods, while 45% said they would support it.
Warning signs for Trump agenda
While Trump had an advantage on Election Day among voters who felt he could better handle the economy, many independent-leaning Americans remain skeptical of his potential agenda outside of inflation and taxes.
That includes pardoning the more than 1,500 people charged with crimes related to the January 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol. Sixty-four percent of respondents said they opposed the pardons, including 68% of independents. Still, more than half of Republicans (56%) said they would support it.
During the campaign, Trump suggested he would erase the convictions of those attempting to keep him in power after losing to President Joe Biden. A spokesperson for Trump’s transition team told Scripps News the pardons would be made on a “case-by-case basis.”
Nearly three-quarters of respondents, including 64% of Republicans, oppose restricting women in combat.
Though not one of the policy positions of the president-elect during the campaign, his nominee for Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, has previously made clear his opposition to both genders serving together in combat.
Other priorities Trump has vowed to act on in the early days of his next administration have support from just about half the country – including shutting down the U.S.-Mexico border (50%) and easing restrictions on fossil fuel drilling (46%). A majority, 57%, supports downsizing the federal government.
“You can see potential areas where there could be a road map for success and that's mainly tackling some pocketbook issues, eliminating taxes on tips, and trying to work out peace in Ukraine,” Newall said. “But the problem is that the public is so divided and there's very few issues that we see broad or bipartisan agreement on.”
Foreign wars
Americans do feel it is less likely now that the country will pulled into a foreign war in the next four years. In October, nearly six in ten said they thought it was likely. The number has dropped to just over four in ten since Trump’s election.
There is also a strong majority (78%) support for negotiating a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
However, views of U.S. democracy remained mostly unchanged pre- and post-election. Just 31% called it “strong” in October, compared to 28% after Election Day.
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