Starting in mid-August, we spoke regularly to 13 young voters who were torn about their choice in the presidential election, to track how and why their opinions were evolving. Most of them supported Joe Biden in 2020 or were too young to vote that year, but now they were unsure if they could trust Kamala Harris, stomach Donald Trump or feel any confidence that the candidates would deliver on their top concerns: the economy, illegal immigration, the war in the Middle East and American leadership writ large.

After Tuesday’s election, we held our final conversation with the focus group to find out how they voted and what drove their decisions — and what they believed Mr. Trump would do, wouldn’t do and shouldn’t do in office.

“I can’t believe it, but I did end up voting for Donald Trump,” said Abigail, a 23-year-old Virginian who backed Mr. Biden last time. She felt Mr. Trump was a strong leader, liked his choice of JD Vance and felt Democrats made assumptions based on gender.

Other former Biden voters took a pass on Ms. Harris because of the war in Gaza, a lack of policy specifics and skepticism that she could improve the economy and also because they liked Mr. Trump from his appearances on Joe Rogan’s podcast and elsewhere.

As for Mr. Trump, many of our 13 participants said they were hopeful that his second term would be better for America than his first, and believed he would take serious actions to secure the southern border and deport undocumented immigrants who committed crimes. No issue animated the group more than immigration — though at the same time, several Trump voters said that they did not support mass deportations of migrants who were in America working and not posing a threat to anyone.

Reflecting on our three months of conversations, some participants wondered if Gen Z was more conservative politically than millennials and expressed optimism that their generation would be better at problem solving in America than their elders. Even those in our group who sharply disagreed with one another felt a measure of appreciation for the chance to talk and listen.

In the end, who did you vote for? What was the key moment that helped you make that decision?

I voted for Kamala Harris. I’d been leaning that way, especially after the debate. And Jan. 6 was something I couldn’t look past.

I voted for Jill Stein. I came to that conclusion when Kamala said she wouldn’t do anything different from Joe Biden. It was also the war in Gaza and all the images I’ve seen. I couldn’t get over it.

I voted for Donald Trump. I decided after Kamala went on “Call Her Daddy.”

I voted for Trump and made that decision the same day the mainstream media was having a meltdown after the Madison Square Garden rally. I also saw an ad from Democrats about abortion misinformation that really made me upset. I said, “You know what? I’m going to vote for Trump. Everybody hates him. They’re lying about pregnancies. Let’s just do it.”

I voted Trump. I made the decision after he appeared on “Joe Rogan.” He just seemed more normal than the other side.

I voted for Trump. It was after realizing that many Democrats only preferred Harris because of her rhetoric and not because of her policy.

I wrote in Josh Shapiro. I wanted to vote for someone who represented my ideas and beliefs rather than voting for someone who is too extreme or a phony.

I ended up voting for Kamala Harris. I did not want to vote for a convicted felon.

I can’t believe it, but I did end up voting for Donald Trump. I made that decision when I saw JD Vance’s interview with The New York Times. He is the future of the Republican Party. I’m more voting for Vance than I am for Trump.

I voted for Donald Trump. Like Abigail, I was really impressed with JD Vance, especially during the V.P. debate.

I wrote in Larry Hogan. I made that decision after I saw Harris doing a lot of entertainment interviews and not focusing on actual interviews with CNN or Fox News or reputable news sources. I couldn’t, in good faith, vote for Trump knowing that he was facing criminal charges.

I wrote in for Mike Bloomberg. I don’t like either top of the ticket.

I shocked myself and voted for Trump. No one tell my family. I was so impressed by JD Vance, the way he carried himself and how normal he appeared. I think I became radicalized on the men and women’s sports issue. The ad that said, “Kamala represents they/them. Trump represents you,” that was so compelling. While Trump is deranged, he represented normalcy somehow to me.

Was there a moment during the final two weeks of the race that caused you to think, “Oh, wow, this is not what I was expecting — this really matters to me”?

When John Kelly came out with a lot of force against Trump. This isn’t someone who is a leftist person, a Democrat. He’s a retired military general. That shook me to my core, that someone that close to Trump would say those things about him.

The Joe Rogan interview was huge for me. Trump enthusiastically said yes to a three-hour, open, honest conversation with Joe Rogan, who was a former Bernie bro. I think it’s very telling about which candidate is authentic and which candidate is not.

I saw how the media has become so corrupted in their cause against Trump. There was that Trump clip of him saying: Put Cheney in front of a bunch of shooters. But he wasn’t actually implying Cheney should be shot. I cannot vote for an establishment that just thinks it’s OK to lie to us.

I was looking for a candidate that I felt I could trust. A key moment that stuck out to me was the “S.N.L.” skit that Harris did, where she essentially made fun of herself. All her focus was going to entertainment industries and avoiding interviews. That came off to me as very phony.

The thing that was really the nail in the coffin for me was when Biden called half the country garbage and then the White House moved to change the record officially. That really bothered me. That made me really want to rally against them.

The last two weeks were extremely stressful, and I just didn’t want to stress about it anymore. I thought I might as well vote for her.

The mainstream media was carrying Kamala Harris’s water. We need a check on the president to have a healthy democracy. If Kamala Harris was elected, there wouldn’t be a check on her from the media.

How many of you, by show of hands, disliked both candidates? It is literally every single person here. What does that say to you about American democracy?

I don’t think we’ll ever see another election where there’s one candidate that truly wins in a Reagan landslide.

I just think both candidates have serious drawbacks. With Trump, it’s being bombastic on social media, making up wild conspiracy theories, going back to the 2020 election. Kamala, she didn’t explain why to vote for her. She basically ran on vibes, and she ran on “not Trump.” You got to earn the American people’s vote.

I kind of wish the Democrats had actually gone through the process of selecting someone rather than just kicking out Joe Biden and doing the hokeypokey with Kamala Harris.

Donald Trump was way too extreme for me. To not be able to admit that he lost the 2020 election, him not apologizing for what happened on Jan. 6 and then also him being a felon and surrounding himself with crazy people — that just sets me off.........

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