What Are Voters’ Top Issues for Trump’s Second Administration?

As Donald Trump prepares to take office for his second term, the spotlight is on his unconventional Cabinet picks and the bold initiatives he plans to prioritize. Among the most debated is the proposed Department of Government Efficiency, which Trump has tapped Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead. Yet, despite the focus on these new initiatives, voters' top issues remain largely unchanged: inflation, health care, and immigration.

In the latest Economist/YouGov poll, 1,553 adults were asked about their most important issue. Among all respondents, it was inflation. Among Republicans, the top issues were inflation, at 29%, and immigration, at 24%. For Democrats, the top issues were health care, at 18%, and inflation, at 14%. Only 5% of respondents and Trump voters said that taxes and government spending were their top issues.

If DOGE is successful, its proponents say it won’t just decrease government spending, but it would quell inflation as well. In recent weeks, Vivek has tweeted, “Government overspending is the ultimate cause of inflation,” and Musk has echoed similar sentiments. While different sources disagree about the primary causes of inflation over the last few years during the Biden administration, economists agree that spending during the COVID-19 pandemic was a significant factor.

On the Democrats' primary issue of health care, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has taken the limelight, as Trump announced he will be his nominee for secretary of Health and Human Services after Kennedy endorsed Trump for president in August. In a poll from late November, 46% approved of Kennedy as HHS secretary, including 20% of Harris voters and 82% of Trump voters.

Other than DOGE, immigration and the border have been other primary focuses of the transition team so far. On controlling the border, Trump appointed Kristi Noem to be the secretary of Homeland Security, overseeing U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In the late November poll, 27% of respondents rated her as very or somewhat favorable, while 30% viewed her as very or somewhat unfavorable.

Trump has also said he will make Tom Homan, who was the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement from January 2017 through June 2018 of Trump’s first term, the “border czar.” Since being nominated, he has said that the focus of deportation at the start of the administration will be “public safety threats and national security threats first” in an interview with Sean Hannity. “There’s thousands of gang members, illegal alien gang members we’re going to be looking for. Now, I’m going to say if you’re in the country illegally, you shouldn’t feel comfortable, absolutely not,” he continued.

Many policies limiting immigration are also relatively popular. In post-election polls, funding a border wall that “extends along more of the U.S.-Mexico border” had 57% support and 34% opposition, even garnering support from 23% of Harris voters. On the issue of “arresting and deporting thousands of illegal immigrants,” 52% supported it, while 29% opposed it. The policy had some Democratic support, at 17%, as well as Hispanics, with 39% in support and 45% opposed.