OPINION: Trump’s America First Economic Priorities Winning Over Voters

As inflation slows and Americans begin to reap the benefits of President Donald Trump’s America First approach to creating jobs for native-born workers, voters are rallying behind the president’s approach. A new survey shows a majority of voters, including a majority of Hispanics, Blacks, young people, and independents, favor the Trump Administration’s focus on raising employment among Americans born here, even if there are losses for foreign-born workers. Voters also trust Republicans over Democrats to handle the economy, and swing voters are moving toward the right compared to midterm elections in 2022 and 2018. The survey, conducted by Quantus Insights from Aug. 11-14 among 1,000 registered voters finds strong support for President Trump’s approach to adding jobs for native-born citizens. Americans say by 33 points — 51 percent to 18 percent — they support the president’s policies that prioritize jobs for U.S.-born Americans. Another 32 percent say they are neutral on the issue. The White House says native-born employment has risen by more than 2 million jobs since January, while foreign-born employment has dropped by half a million. The White House noted that during the same period in 2024, foreign-born workers were securing as many as 48 percent of new jobs created under the Biden Administration. Now, due to the president’s crackdown on illegal immigration, virtually all the job gains this year have gone to native-born citizens. Majorities of swing votes, including young people, Hispanics, Blacks, independents and moderates all support the Trump Administration’s priority of raising employment among U.S.-born workers first, with only Democrats and liberals opposing the strategy, according to the survey. African-Americans say by 30 points — 42 percent to 12 percent — they support the Trump Administration’s labor policies, and Hispanics support the administration’s policies by 28 points — a margin of 49 percent to 21 percent. Young people ages 18-29 support the Trump Administration’s labor policies prioritizing American-born workers by 30 points — 47 percent to 17 percent — and voters ages 30-44 approve of the administration’s policies by 43 points — a margin of 57 percent to 14 percent. Independents support the administration labor policies by 29 points — 43 percent to 14 percent — and moderates support the policies by 25 points — a count of 42 percent to 17 percent. The survey also shows voters trust Republicans over Democrats to handle the economy by 5 points — an edge of 42 percent to 37 percent. While the survey shows a narrow lead for Democrats in the generic Congressional ballot — 45 percent to 42 percent — there is reason to believe Democrats could suffer significantly compared to the previous midterm-election cycles. Key voter groups appear to be moving toward the right, according to the survey. Black voters — while still broadly planning to support Democrats in the survey — are showing one of the largest shifts toward Congressional Republicans compared to how they voted in the 2022 midterm cycle. The Quantus survey reveals 17 percent of Black Americans plan to support Republicans, while 74 percent plan to support Democrats, which translates to Democrats winning their vote by 57 points. This is a substantial shift from just three years ago, when Democrats won Black voters by 73 points — a margin of 86 percent to 13 percent. Compared to 2018, the shift is even larger. Democrats won Black voters by 79 points — 90 percent to 11 percent — just eight years ago. Young people are also showing much more interest in voting red next election cycle than they have in previous midterm cycles. The Quantus survey shows young voters still supporting Democrats next year, but by only 15 points — a margin of 52 percent to 37 percent. In 2022, Democrats won young people by 28 points — 63 percent to 35 percent according to CNN exit polls. While Democrats and some in the GOP-establishment have fought President Trump every step of the way on his America First economic agenda, real job gains among Americans are rallying voters behind the president’s priorities. The public strongly favors Trump’s focus on raising employment among native-born Americans, including a broad coalition of swing voters.        

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Manzanita Miller is the senior political analyst at Americans for Limited Government Foundation, the research arm of Americans for Limited Government, a libertarian political advocacy group. The organization conducts policy research and publishes reports with the goal of reducing the size of the government.