Americans ages 18 to 29 swung toward President-elect Donald Trump in this year's election, but they came to his coalition with sharply different views and interests than older conservatives or most top Republican leaders.
Trump won nearly half of voters in the age group, compared with about one-third in 2020, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 120,000 voters nationwide. That means that although the youngest voters made up a relatively small share, about 15, of his coalition, he was nearly as strong among this group as Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate.
VoteCast found that Trump's younger voters were more motivated by the economy than by immigration, were broadly concerned about climate change, and wanted more government involvement in health care and canceling student loan debt.
That could inform the course Trump sets for his second term and how Republicans looking ahead to the 2026 midterm election and the 2028 presidential race respond. The GOP traditionally has opposed broad action on climate change, health care or student loans. Trump, meanwhile, has promised to stage the largest deportation operation in U.S. history and impose sweeping tariffs, actions that mainstream economists warn could drive up prices and cost jobs.
"Donald Trump's rhetoric did not prevent them from supporting him this time around," said Barrett Marson, a Republican strategist based in Arizona, a battleground state. "It sounds like the economic issues overrode everything. So if Donald Trump delivers on his economic promises, then will young people stick with Republicans? That is a question we can't answer right now."
