‘Disappointed,’ ‘Surprised,’ ‘Betrayed’: 12 Trump Voters on What Has Gone Wrong |
‘Disappointed,’ ‘Surprised,’ ‘Betrayed’: 12 Trump Voters on What Has Gone Wrong
Eighty percent of Republicans approve of President Trump’s performance, but his national standing has dipped, especially among independents.
That leaves several people who voted for Mr. Trump but who may not feel good about the direction of the country. For Opinion’s latest focus group, conducted earlier this month, we spoke with voters like this: people who cast their ballots for Mr. Trump and said they were disappointed with his second term. A few said they even regretted their votes.
Some participants had been hopeful in 2024, but many of them felt that Mr. Trump was the “lesser of two evils” and the alternative might have been not voting at all: social conservatives, antiwar Republicans, people with hopes about prices and taxes coming down or deep dissatisfaction with Democratic policies. Their frustration mostly came in three categories: the implementation of Mr. Trump’s immigration policies, the Iran war and the continued high cost of living. People had praise for what Mr. Trump had done with the border, on crime and the idea of DOGE, but many of these voters are unhappy, some depressed and upset, with the direction of the country.
How do you talk about a situation you’re disappointed about or even a decision you regret, though, especially with people you know might disagree? It can be difficult.
Some participants said they were from families or communities where most people agreed with them, even if quietly. Others felt frustrated or embarrassed because they were from families where their Democratic relatives had predicted what would happen, or they had Trump-supporting friends or family members who did not want to hear their critiques. Echoing the sentiments of several people, one participant said, “There’s almost no space to even discuss.”
In one or two words, finish this sentence: “I’m feeling ‘blank’ about the country these days.”
Disappointed and sad.
Disappointed and hopeful.
Surprised and discouraged.
Kitty, you said “disappointed and hopeful.” Tell me more.
So much has happened. We’re starting to see; we’re getting disillusioned. And all these false promises are starting to be like, we know it for what it is now. Now that we know and we don’t feel as naïve or trusting, then we can properly create a path forward to going in better directions.
Chris, you said “surprised.” What made you say that?
Life is becoming more and more unaffordable. The prices of things like gasoline and food overall haven’t come down. I thought it all would just be a lot more affordable.
John, you said “apathetic.” Tell me why.
I think the government is apathetic and not necessarily in tune with our concerns as citizens. But then I’m somewhat apathetic in that same regard because I’m just a guy. I vent with my friends, I vent with my family. In the scheme of things, is it going to move the needle? Probably not, but it’s nice.
Franceska, tell me why “betrayed.”
We were made a lot of promises during the election. I know that it’s only been a year and a half, but I don’t think I’ve really seen much progress toward even moving toward what he said he was going to do, such as tax breaks or, let’s see, helping with the education system. I feel like he just defunded a lot of the education systems, the schools. I don’t know why he made so many promises.
Have you felt this way for the last year and change since Donald Trump has been in office, or have you felt this way for a long time?
I think it’s just, I guess, how it is. As I’ve grown up, it hasn’t really gotten any better. It’s hard to get a home. I’ve been in apartments for forever. I don’t really see any hope for that kind of thing.
Daniel, you said you feel annoyed. How long have you felt annoyed?
Well, living in California, our governor, it’s just all false promises. All these additional taxes that are coming out. Money’s not being well spent. Just no accountability whatsoever. And with the current administration, it’s something new every week. DOGE, Venezuela, immigration, Iran. This week, the president’s feuding with the pope. I’m very disappointed. And I served in the military. There’s a reason why I voted for Trump. Usually Republicans are pro-military. But this whole conflict with Iran is just uncalled for.
Tell me more about why you voted for Trump.
Well, I’m an independent. Frankly, I just wasn’t a fan of Kamala. It was the lesser of two evils. I could have written in somebody, but I felt like I had a better chance of a little hope with Trump. I was hoping that Congress and other branches would keep him in check, and that he’d have better advisers, and that maybe the second go-around, he’d learn some lessons. But it seems like it’s just total chaos.
When he was saying he would try to fix immigration, I was behind it. But then the way he did it, it’s just not the way I agree with.
What turned out to be different?
How ICE was treating people. This is not the way to do it.
I thought he’d learned his lesson, and was going to prove to everybody he learned from his mistakes, and he was going to turn the country around and he was going to be a stellar president. But it’s turned out to be a horror movie. I was so wrong with the vote for him.
What are you pointing to when you say things have turned out to be a horror movie?
There’s not one promise that he made that he’s followed through on. He said we’re not going to be in any wars. We have had wars. We’re discriminating against anybody that looks different than us or believes in whatever religion or sexual preference. That’s not what we’re about. I don’t watch the news anymore because I get depressed.
I was hopeful. I thought he was the lesser of two evils. I voted for him the first time, too. I was hopeful that he had learned his lesson. But the thing that frustrates me the most is how he divides people.
I thought he was the lesser of two evils. I thought the second term would be a little better from the first. And the way the Democrats approach a lot of moral and social issues didn’t agree with me. But prices are high as ever. Gas, anything consumer-related is high with tariffs and everything. If you understand economic policy, tariffs are not the way to go because the cost is passed to consumers.
The whole idea behind DOGE, I liked and I entertained that they’re actually going to clean up some deficient parts of the government that do all this spending and uncover fraud. It was all very exciting at first. Wow, OK, we’re actually shifting in some kind of interesting direction that I haven’t really seen before. But to piggyback off a lot of what other folks said, and really, it’s my opinion, too, but it’s the fact, a lot of the things that he said that he’s going to do has just kind of derailed. And he’s very emotional with his decisions. There’s a lot of uncertainty as a result.
Are there things that have gone well or decisions he’s made that you do think are good?
He promised a secure border, and that’s what he did right away on Day 1. That was probably his biggest accomplishment so far.
I somewhat agree on the border comment. Part of what bothers me regarding that is the fact that it seems to be just one ethnicity type that’s being targeted in regards to immigration. He’s not trying to clean up both sides of the country’s borders. If he was more consistent in treating immigrants as immigrants and not just one........