A growing number of Americans who voted for President Donald Trump to return to the White House are starting to disagree with him on some key issues ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
While most of the voters who got Trump re-elected still support him, some have raised concerns about his handling of issues like immigration and the economy – as well as what they see as an apparent lack of follow-through, according to a new report by NBC News.
Only a handful of the more than 50 voters surveyed over the course of the past year fell completely off the Trump train. However, a large portion of that group is now sounding the alarm on his apparent abandonment of some campaign promises, including tackling inflation and the high cost of living, according to the report.
An overlapping group also balked at the administration’s deportation policies, according to the report, which was conducted by NBC and produced by Syracuse University and research firms Engagious and Sago.
Voters in the focus groups were nearly unanimous in approving of Trump’s performance in the months immediately after he took office – but that started to change as the year went on, according to the report.
"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 said. "What we almost never see is a wish for a do-over vote or a rush toward Democrats for the answer.”
Many of those surveyed were divided on Trump’s tariffs from the start. Others expressed disappointment that the president hasn’t focused more on tackling inflation. Even still, many gave the president grace in failing to make good on some of his campaign promises.
“I think he has a grand master plan that most of us probably don’t understand,” Rozlyn C., a 44-year-old Georgia voter of Cuban descent, said. “I have faith that he, a hundred percent, has the best interest of our country at heart.”
Fewer than half of Trump voters across four focus groups said they felt he had made fighting inflation a top priority, according to the report.
“I expected him to be aggressive in a lot of different areas and he’s doing exactly that – being aggressive in a lot of different areas of focus that concern the U.S. citizens. Every few days you’re hearing something different and you’re constantly seeing him at work, working, getting stuff done,” said 56-year-old independent Dorris S.
However, some Trump voters were more critical of his efforts to combat inflation.
Robert L., a 54-year-old Virginia resident who backed a Democrat in a November election for governor, said Trump’s comments about inflation improving are “delusional” and show that he is “out of touch.”
Another Virginia resident, Justin K., said he didn’t think Trump “tried at all” to tackle inflation.
“He’s been focused on prosecuting his political enemies, pardoning people,” he said. “I don’t even think that there’s much a president can do on inflation, but I think that this was a kind of situation where he just said it to get elected.”
The president’s widespread tariffs also revealed a vast divide amongst his voters, with some voters expressing concerns about them hurting businesses.
“I think that it’s ridiculous that we haven’t been charging tariffs for decades and we’re starting to equalize it,” said Hector L., a 55-year-old North Carolina voter who was born in Puerto Rico.
However, some voters felt the tariffs unfairly impacted Americans.
“Tariffs are a tax on the American people. That’s who pays for it, so I don’t support it,” said David S., a 47-year-old from New Jersey. “Every tariff that is put in place, from when Biden is putting ‘em in place, Trump putting them in place, they are taxes on the people who are importing. The people who are buying those imports are paying the tax.”
Meanwhile, other voters said they were optimistic about Trump’s economic policies, stating they feel the country would still be worse off if Kamala Harris or Joe Biden had been elected instead.
“I feel that if we were in the hands of Kamala Harris or Joe Biden, that our country would be doing a lot worse than it already was. I feel like Trump has amended some of those wrongs that were done,” said Harmony D., a 26-year-old Michigan resident and independent who has voted for Trump twice.
Other voters, however, called out Trump’s economic practices as being solely for his own benefit.
“It’s a bait and switch with him where he said he was for the average person but he actually favors big business, and then just does whatever he wants and there’s no consequences,” Virginia’s Justin K. said.
Some of those voters surveyed for the focus group also expressed concerns over Trump’s tackling of immigration issues, namely the administration’s deportation policies.
“When it comes to immigration, a lot of respondents told us this year, ‘I like what the President is doing, but I don’t like how he’s doing it.’ This suggests they’re struggling to reconcile their vote for the President with executive actions they find troubling,” said Rich Thau of Engagious, who moderated the focus group sessions.
The report from NBC comes as Trump hits an all-time low approval rating of just 36 percent, according to a recent Gallup poll.
It’s the worst rating of any U.S. president at the end of their first year in power in the last 50 years. It also ties with Trump’s approval rating at the end of his first term in December 2017, when he received the same approval rating.
Another poll conducted by the NBC News Decision Desk last month found that both mainstream Republicans and those who identify as MAGA reported dissatisfaction with Trump.
The latest polling reveals a decline amongst his normally dedicated MAGA base. Although 70 percent continue to support him, the president has seen an eight-point drop from 78 percent in April.
Support for the president has fallen amongst mainstream Republicans, too, with approval dropping from 38 percent in April to 35 percent.
The poll also noted that there has been a drop in the number of Republicans who identify as MAGA. In April, 57 percent of Republicans polled considered themselves MAGA, compared to 43 percent who did not.
That number has now dropped down to 50-50, according to the poll.
