As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House, Americans hold mixed expectations about his ability to deliver on campaign promises.
A Gallup poll released last week highlights areas where the public is optimistic, including immigration reform, job creation, and national security, alongside more tempered expectations in areas such as healthcare, race relations, and education.
The poll revealed that 68% of Americans believe Trump will effectively curb illegal immigration, while 60% expect improvements in unemployment and counterterrorism efforts. Similarly, 58% anticipate a stronger economy, and smaller majorities foresee successes in tax reductions, crime reduction, and avoiding international conflicts. This optimism aligns closely with voters’ top priorities, including the economy, immigration, and foreign policy, which were highlighted in recent surveys by AP-NORC.
Immigration emerged as the top concern for 47% of respondents, a 12-point increase from the previous year, reflecting widespread frustration with border security. Both Republican and Democratic voters ranked the economy and foreign policy as significant issues, though their emphasis on specific challenges, such as government spending versus environmental concerns, underscored ideological divides.
Despite these points of agreement, skepticism surrounds Trump’s ability to address longstanding systemic problems. According to Gallup, most Americans doubt his potential to heal political divisions, reform healthcare, improve education, or tackle climate-related issues. These concerns echo a broader frustration with the federal government’s perceived inability to address deep-rooted challenges.
On the economic front, public sentiment favors overhauling the tax system, with more than 80% of respondents in a Tax Foundation survey calling for reform. Over half believe taxes are too high, and two-thirds consider the tax code unfair. While Trump campaigned on reducing taxes and revitalizing the economy, the federal budget deficit, which exceeded $1.8 trillion in 2024, poses a significant challenge. Critics note that deficits have ballooned under administrations from both parties, with no clear solution in sight.
The challenges extend to cultural and social issues. Political divisions and race relations, both of which are shaped by decades of societal evolution, remain areas where public expectations are low. Gallup’s findings suggest that Americans view these as issues beyond the reach of immediate political solutions, requiring sustained societal effort rather than short-term policy fixes.
Healthcare and education also remain contentious areas. Years of centralized policymaking have eroded public trust in these institutions, prompting many Americans to explore alternatives to traditional public schools and accept limited progress on healthcare reforms. These issues, exacerbated by inflation and rising costs, remain unresolved, with no immediate solutions on the horizon.
Even Trump has acknowledged the complexity of addressing inflation, particularly rising grocery prices, which he admitted are “hard to bring down once they’re up.” This sentiment reflects the broader difficulty of reversing economic trends driven by global and structural forces.
Amid these challenges, public optimism about Trump’s potential success in key areas such as immigration and economic growth underscores why voters returned him to office. However, expectations for sweeping change remain tempered by a pragmatic understanding of the limitations of presidential power and the entrenched nature of many national issues.
