IN FOCUS: What 50 Trump voters said about his policies

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From NBC News:

The voters who put President Donald Trump back in the White House last year still largely support him. But they are increasingly disagreeing with the president on issues like the economy and immigration, raising questions about the strength of his coalition heading into a midterm election year.

That’s the upshot of a year of focus group conversations diving into different key groups of Trump’s 2024 base of support, which were observed by NBC News and produced by Syracuse University and the research firms Engagious and Sago. The groups included more than 50 Black, Hispanic and young voters who voted for Trump, as well as Trump voters who decided to back Democrats in this year’s New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial elections.

Consistent themes emerged across those conversations with different groups of Trump voters in March, June, September and December.

Although a small minority have fully distanced themselves from former President Trump, a larger segment has begun to express concerns, particularly regarding the administration’s perceived lack of action in addressing inflation and the rising cost of living, which were primary motivations for their support of Trump in the 2024 election. Additionally, an overlapping group has expressed opposition to the administration’s deportation policies.

While voters in the focus groups conducted during the first half of 2025 were overwhelmingly in favor of Trump’s job performance, albeit with some reservations, the persistent tone of frustration has intensified as the year nears its conclusion.

“Many of these voters gave President Trump a long runway well into the summer because they believed that he understands how business works better than they do and that his own fortune would eventually translate to enriching the country and their own finances or because they felt so strongly that unchecked immigration was a huge problem that needed a huge fix,” said Margaret Talev, director of Syracuse University’s Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship.

“But as the year wore on, we have seen a shift among these voters collectively, cracks in their faith, more questioning, oscillating or outright change of heart about Trump,” Talev added. “What we almost never see is a wish for a do-over vote or a rush toward Democrats for the answer.”

Read more at NBC News

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