Most Americans optimistic about economic prospects next four years The relationship with Donald Trump is even more serious than it was in 2017, before his first term. Most people are hopeful for the coming year.

This is underpinned by American expectations for a better life economy 2025 — higher than their current ratings — and voters generally believe Trump will lower grocery prices, make them better off financially and bring more peace and stability to the world.

It all echoes many of the reasons why Trump won in the first place.

However, in this era of partisanship, optimism about the incoming president is not as high as it once was. For Carter and Reagan, whether for Bush, Clinton or Obama, CBS News polls at the time showed they were more optimistic than Joe Biden in 2021 or Donald Trump today. This is largely because opposition parties are less likely to express positive attitudes these days.

Just as economic views and inflation drove Trump's victory, many Americans today — especially Trump voters — expect the economy to be in better shape.

Just as inflation and the economy were top issues in the election, they are certainly top of the list they want Trump to prioritize now.

Overall, Americans are more hopeful about the coming year than they were in early 2021 while the pandemic was still ongoing.

Looking overseas, more people believe that Trump will enhance world peace and stability rather than weaken it, especially reducing conflicts between Israel and its Middle East neighbors.

(By contrast, just over half now believe Biden’s policies caused more conflict there.)

Other potential policy ideas

A majority of Americans support deporting immigrants who are here illegally, as voters did during the campaign, but do not support using the military to deport.

On many other potential policy ideas, the picture is even more divided. Ending birthright citizenship is not widely popular and will only divide Trump voters.

People are not sold on the idea of ​​buying Greenland. Most Trump voters would agree with this, but not universally, and beyond that, it's not a popular idea.

Still, it does shed important light on how Americans think about Trump: Many of them see him as simply providing leverage in larger negotiations.

When it comes to imposing tariffs on imported goods, Trump's voters overwhelmingly support the idea (although they don't necessarily think it will lower prices), while a slim majority of Americans overall oppose it.

The idea of ​​ending or reducing DEI programs has strong support among voters; other parts of the country are even more divided.

Looking ahead: Democrats and the opposition

Still, a majority of Americans say they are worried about the state of U.S. politics right now, with Democrats the most concerned and their ranks currently not looking particularly active.

When asked to choose a descriptor, many Democrats described themselves as "demoralized" and "exhausted" and "worried" about American politics. Few people say they are “interested.” Even fewer say they are “motivated.”

They are broadly divided over whether they want congressional Democrats to find common ground or oppose Trump at every turn. The most liberal people are also the most opposed. Then, they have some — though not great — confidence that their congressional leadership can effectively oppose Trump when they disagree.

With Mr. Biden gone, there's also a sense of missed opportunities: More than half think Ms. Harris would have won if Mr. Biden had stepped down earlier.

Meanwhile, Biden joins Americans in quitting Assessing his presidency the lowest level of his tenure.

Looking ahead along other demographic lines, some Americans' outlook for the Trump administration bears some similarities to what happened in November.

Trump won over younger voters in 2020, and younger Americans are now more likely to express optimism about him than older Americans. (They were also generally more likely to express optimism whenever asked to look to the future.) Trump did better with men and made progress with women, and both are optimistic today, especially the men.

Today, nearly a quarter of voters who backed Kamala Harris are optimistic about Trump's next four years, reflecting a possible willingness to reassess him once he takes office, something we've seen here This is often the case with supporters of losing candidates, at least early on.

All in all, more Americans support the new administration's success and fewer Americans support its failure. For desired success, the rate is much higher. This is also similar to what happened with Joe Biden four years ago. For many, they say it just depends on what Trump is trying to do.

The CBS News/YouGov survey was conducted between January 15 and 17, 2025, among 2,174 nationally representative U.S. adults. The sample is weighted by gender, age, race, and education to be representative of the national adult population. U.S. Census American Community Survey and Current Population Survey, and the 2024 presidential election. The error margin is ±2.5 points.