Most Americans are optimistic about next four years With Donald Trump, even higher than in 2017, before his first term. And most people are optimistic about the coming year.
It is driven by Americans' hopes for betterment economy in 2025 – higher than his current ratings – as well as widespread belief among his voters that Trump will lower grocery prices, make them better off economically and bring more peace and stability to the world.
All of this echoes many of the reasons Trump won in the first place.
However, in this hyper-partisan era, optimism for incoming presidents is not as high as it once was. For both Carter and Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Obama, CBS News polling at the time showed more optimism in 2021 than it does for President Biden or Trump today. The main reason for this is that nowadays, opposing parties are less likely to express positivity.
Just as economic ideas and inflation propelled Trump to victory, many Americans today – especially Trump voters – expect things to get better economically.
And just as inflation and the economy were the top issues in the election, they are far from the top things they want Trump to prioritize now.
Americans are generally more optimistic about the year ahead than they were at the beginning of 2021, when the pandemic was still ongoing.
Looking abroad, more people think Trump will enhance rather than diminish peace and stability in the world, and in particular, reduce conflict between Israel and its neighbors in the Middle East.
(By contrast, more than half now look back and say Mr. Biden's policies have created more conflict there.)
Other possible policy ideas
Most Americans are in favor of deporting immigrants who are in the country illegally, as voters were during the campaign, though not in favor of using the military for deportations.
Things are more divided on several other potential policy ideas. Ending birthright citizenship is not widely popular, and it only divides Trump voters.
People aren't sold on the idea of buying Greenland. Most Trump voters would accept it, but not universally, and beyond that it is not a popular idea.
However, it sheds important light on how Americans think Trump: Many of them think he is just taking advantage of a big conversation.
As for imposing tariffs on imported goods, Trump's voters overwhelmingly support the idea (even if they don't think it would lower prices), while a slight majority of Americans overall oppose it.
The idea of eliminating or reducing DEI programs is strongly supported by their voters; The rest of the country is more divided.
See further:Democrats and opposition
Still, a majority of Americans say they are worried about the state of American politics right now, and that concern is highest among Democrats, whose ranks don't seem particularly energized right now.
When asked to choose descriptors many Democrats described themselves as “disappointed”, as well as “tired” and “concerned” about American politics. Some people say they are even “interested”. Even fewer say they are “inspired.”
They are broadly divided on whether they want congressional Democrats to find common ground or now oppose Trump at every turn; The most liberal people are the most hostile. And then they have some — though not much — confidence that their congressional leadership can effectively oppose Trump if they disagree.
There is also some sense of a missed opportunity with Mr Biden leaving: More than half think Harris could have won if Mr Biden had left office sooner.
Meanwhile, Biden falls out with Americans evaluation of his presidency As much as had never happened during his tenure.
Looking ahead along other demographic lines, some Americans' approach to the Trump administration follows some patterns of what happened in November.
Trump made gains with young voters in 2020, and today, younger Americans are more likely to express optimism about him than older Americans. (They are also generally more likely to voice optimism whenever asked about what lies ahead.) Trump fared better with men and made gains with women, and today both are optimistic, especially men. .
Today, about a quarter of voters who support Kamala Harris are optimistic about the next four years with Trump, perhaps reflecting some willingness to reevaluate him after he takes office, something we often hear from supporters of the losing candidate. Let's see with, at least in the beginning. But.
Overall, more Americans are rooting for the new administration to succeed, while fewer are rooting for it to fail. This ratio is much higher for the desired success. It's the same as it was for Joe Biden four years ago. And then for many people, they say it just depends on what Trump tries to do.
This CBS News/YouGov survey was conducted between January 15-17, 2025, with a nationally representative sample of 2,174 U.S. adults. This sample was weighted as representative of adults nationwide by gender, age, race, and education. The US Census American Community Survey and the Current Population Survey, as well as the 2024 presidential vote. The margin of error is ±2.5 points.
