Opinion | Trump, the Economy and Work: 10 Gen Z Trump Voters Discuss

Alvin, 24, N.Y., Republican, Asian, engineer

There’s obviously a few things that are wrong. But trying to bring manufacturing back is really important. I feel like manufacturing is important for many reasons, such as war, and for giving jobs to American people, too. Everyone cannot go to college. I think bringing back blue-collar work is great.

Benedict, 24, Neb., Republican, white, law clerk

Economics. And the way that we are accumulating debt is becoming unsustainable and unfixable. I think a lot of other things trickle down from that.

Heather, 23, Va., Republican, Asian, dog walker, tutor

I would say I agree with everything that I’ve heard so far. And I would add that the abortion industry and the human trafficking trade is another really big problem that Americans are feeding into.

Zachary, 25, Mo., independent, white, scientist

We’re a humiliation across the world in terms of foreign policy. The United States is not what it once was. And we can’t seem to drive costs down for the average American. And I don’t feel, up in Washington, they’re really caring about that.

Christian, 25, Tenn., Republican, Latino, curriculum adviser

I agree with most things that have been said. For people under 30, 35, like us, buying a home seems unattainable unless you have really good saving habits. That has direct impact on the economy, and it trickles down to us.

Kim, 25, Va., Republican, white, medical scribe

It comes back to the economy for me, too. We just bought a house. And we would not have gotten it if we didn’t have a family member to help co-sign with it. Nothing seems affordable or feasible right now.

Jake, 22, N.Y., Republican, white, analyst

I think it’s hard to blame specific groups. Americans are on opposite sides of the spectrum. So it’s hard to push us toward a solution if people are pulling toward each side. There’s not cohesion among a majority of people.

Stephen, 25, Ore., Democrat, white, analyst

The interests of different demographics, older folks versus younger folks. Most older folks, they’ve accumulated wealth throughout their entire careers, they have homes and their interests are very different than someone who’s just starting out in their career, like most of us here. I don’t think they have any ill will.

Olivier, 20, N.J., Republican, white, student

The cost of living. It’s just so high right now. I want to eventually live on my own. That’s at the forefront of my mind whenever I buy anything. Would I rather have this or save toward a house? I’m a homebody because I’m always self-conscious about saving, about money and the price of living.

Olivier, 20, N.J., Republican, white, student

I’ve always been cautious about money. And now the price of everything is just so high. Would I rather go out with friends and spend a couple of hundred dollars every week or put that into investments for a house in the future?

Kim, 25, Va., Republican, white, medical scribe

Being a homeowner, we’re one bad thing away from being in debt. And because of the cost of things, we’ve had to pull from savings. Just one vet bill, a deductible, whatever — we would be in the hole. We would be back to nothing, to not having any cushion, per se.

Jake, 22, N.Y., Republican, white, analyst

For me, someone who’s about to start my career, I think job security and a path to moving up within a company or finding different jobs is something that worries me. I’ve heard plenty of stories of people my age and even older that, one day, they wake up and they show up to work, and they tell them that they’re no longer needed. I’m very grateful to have an opportunity for myself now, but I’m just looking ahead in the future, and it’s uncertain about where I might be.

Heather, 23, Va., Republican, Asian, dog walker, tutor

I’m worried about the price of medical care and the price of food.

Benedict, 24, Neb., Republican, white, law clerk

I don’t come from money or a lot of privilege or anything. So I didn’t have a leg up on anybody. My trajectory right now has been I’m working hard. And I’m not ahead yet, but I see a path to that. So anecdotally, I think it’s possible.

Christian, 25, Tenn., Republican, Latino, curriculum adviser

I definitely agree with Benedict. I do think part of it’s a mind-set thing. If you have self-control over your spending, over going out to eat, that saves a lot of money. And that’s what saved my wife and me tons of money when we were getting out of debt. And we worked extremely hard to get out of debt so we could get ahead. Not that we are ahead, and we definitely don’t have any privilege over anybody. We weren’t given an inheritance or anything of that sort.

Zachary, 25, Mo., independent, white, scientist

I disagree because I feel like working hard and having a grinding mind-set is more of the way to meet the bare minimum. In today’s world, personally, I work 60-hour workweeks. I’m always working. I’m doing stuff on my off time. And I can save exactly $120 every paycheck. And I see the associates and family and friends around me who are ahead. And most of them have gotten it from having family or relatives who have come from money and had given them a boost forward, so you get a launchpad to get a running start at everything.

Caleb, 24, Maine, independent, white, management consultant

I think it’s tough to say that working hard gets you ahead when I have friends in the trades that are working double time and not seeing the opportunity to get out without some degree of additional innovation or support. And some of that comes down to not having safety nets or external help. But when I see people working 60-plus hours a week in a trade and not able to make a dent in cost of living, it does feel like it’s gotten tougher, at least, to play by the rules.

Stephen, 25, Ore., Democrat, white, analyst

I think that it probably is still largely true. And yeah, I think it depends on demographics. It’s possible that younger conservatives may feel like they’re more concerned about inequality, whereas older conservatives may look at things through more rose-colored glasses, so to speak, and say, “Oh, look at me, I got ahead.” I think you could still work hard and get ahead. But it’s not as much of a guarantee as it was before. And I think it also depends on who’s in office. I mean, no matter what’s happening with the economy or anything, if a Democrat is in office, Democrats are going to view what’s happening in America as great even if it’s not, and vice versa.

Kim, 25, Va., Republican, white, medical scribe

I will just jump in, I guess. My husband is blue-collar. He’s an electrician. And he works with somebody who has a degree, and they make the same pay, and my husband does not. So I know circumstances are different for different jobs per different line of work, but that’s just an example. To me, it just doesn’t seem like it matters in certain situations.

Heather, 23, Va., Republican, Asian, dog walker, tutor

I feel like it used to be super-duper important. And it still is pretty important because if you go online and look for different jobs, they’re asking for these different degrees. But now some say “or related experience, or equivalent experience.” So now people are realizing that there are people without degrees who have good experience who are eligible for the job. But you have to get tons of experience in everything, so that’s hard.

Zachary, 25, Mo., independent, white, scientist

I feel like a college degree really isn’t as necessary as long as you get some kind of education, whether that’s trade school, some kind of vocational program or college. I have a graduate degree, and I work in a STEM field and in an area that pays relatively well, given the part of the United States I’m in. And even then, if I could go back, I would go back and do a trade. Most of the trade jobs, like linemen and electricians, make significantly more than I do. And I spent eight years in university to pretty much just get saddled with debt. So now I’m only making less. Not only am I making less; I also have this ginormous bill I have to pay every month.

Jake, 22, N.Y., Republican, white, analyst

I’ve found that I need a bachelor’s degree to even allow me to submit an application to a company. So I think it depends on the field you’re going into.

Kim, 25, Va., Republican, white, medical scribe

Yeah. I was employed as a medical scribe. I got replaced by A.I., so I lost my job recently. It kind of turned me off from the whole thing, And I’ve turned now to homemaking and being a wife and staying home and taking care of our family. But if I were to get back into it — I worked in medical for a really long time — I like to just be done with it at the end of the day. It was too much on me mentally. I worked through the whole pandemic as a tester and everything. And it really drained me. I saw a lot of things that I don’t want to ever see again. So I’ve lost my passion for it.

Olivier, 20, N.J., Republican, white, student

I need to find a job that I really enjoy doing because I have an addictive personality. Once I find something that I really like, I will really pursue it. I’ll always be looking for ways I can improve myself or how I can apply myself differently. And I think that’s really the goal of how I want to work, because you want to work somewhere where you could keep building yourself up.

Zachary, 25, Mo., independent, white, scientist

I believe that this works on a spectrum. I think the desire to have a job that is a part of your identity is more of having a job that you like and enjoy. I’ve worked in different environments, some where I just wanted to go home and not even think about it once I leave. But now that I’ve entered research, I constantly want to tell people about what I’m doing. And it is something I actually look forward to taking home with me and thinking about at night. So if you’re taking your work home with you and it’s a job you don’t like, people don’t want to do that. But if it’s a job they do like, they’re going to want to talk about it and probably rather enjoy it.

Stephen, 25, Ore., Democrat, white, analyst

It’s hard to pinpoint what drives cryptocurrency. You can point to the stock market and say, “earnings, G.D.P., corporate strategy.” That’s going to drive the stock market. But I feel like crypto is so qualitative and nebulous that it’s really hard to say, “OK, this is what’s driving crypto.” It’s less of an investment and more of a speculative play; you’re essentially gambling. It can make you broke as quickly as you can make it rich.

Caleb, 24, Maine, independent, white, management consultant

I definitely have a past and a history with crypto and NFTs. I made some money there. But the takeaway for me was that if you weren’t part of the insider group that knew the line on it, you weren’t going to make any money. You’re going to lose money, particularly when it comes to speculative investing and prediction markets. It’s just a matter of time.

Alvin, 24, N.Y., Republican, Asian, engineer

I actually did do the prediction for the 2024 election. I would say you’ve just got to be smart with what you’re throwing your money into. You can’t just blindly — Knicks versus Spurs, right? That’s completely 50/50. There’s no guaranteeing that the Knicks are going to win. But you just have to use some sort of, I guess, brain. And for crypto markets, I would say, it’s just a waste of money. I’m going to be honest.

Jake, 22, N.Y., Republican, white, analyst

I didn’t really have too much to say about this. But I’m not too knowledgeable about crypto. But it was funny what he said about the prediction markets. My limited experience is actually that Knicks-Spurs series. As a New Yorker, it worked out well for me.

Kim, 25, Va., Republican, white, medical scribe

I wanted to be excited about it. I wanted to enjoy it. I do occasionally use it for research and whatnot. But then it took my job, so I guess you could say I have a little bit of beef with it. It kind of sucks.

Jake, 22, N.Y., Republican, white, analyst

I think it’s a balance of both nervousness and excitement. I think that there’s always something in the back of my mind where an experience like Kim’s could occur, where A.I. limits my role. But I also can see how A.I. could contribute to my role, and having experience utilizing A.I. could even propel me forward in my career.

Heather, 23, Va., Republican, Asian, dog walker, tutor

I believe that it’s going to make my job a lot easier and harder at the same time, taking away some of the tasks that are drudgery and boring for me, but also then forcing me to use my brain the whole time. I anticipate having to learn new skills and branch out into different areas to stay ahead of the A.I. and to still have a job.

Heather, 23, Va., Republican, Asian, dog walker, tutor

For the young women, I can definitely say that the culture is pushing: Go and get a job, homemaking is lame, all that sort of stuff. Send your kids to public school and day care and get a job, even though you spend all that money paying for day care. That is what the culture is pushing. And young women are wanting the approval of the culture and to fit in, so they’re not going to fight it as much. I don’t know about the young men, though.

Kim, 25, Va., Republican, white, medical scribe

It’s tough because I surround myself with a lot of other fellow homesteading moms and homemakers. So we all have the same thoughts and beliefs. I wasn’t this, though, before I met my husband. And he’s great. But had you asked me three or four years ago, I probably would have said, “Nope, I’m not getting married. I don’t want kids. I don’t want to settle down. I don’t want a house.” I don’t think I could imagine it any other way right now. So maybe I’m the odd man out; I don’t know.

Stephen, 25, Ore., Democrat, white, analyst

Marriage and starting a family rank pretty highly for me. A lot of guys I talk to feel the same way. Among the women I know, there’s a general trend of wanting to push back against the culture of stay-at-home moms. And I definitely empathize with that. I definitely understand why.

Zachary, 25, Mo., independent, white, scientist

I’d say the poll findings aren’t too crazy. My job and career is No. 1 for me. And the No. 2 is my relationship with my partner and getting married. Most of my male friends are that same way: work, No. 1; relationship, No. 2. But when it comes to the women that I know, it’s a mix. A lot of them work because they have to, but they would rather be homemakers to some degree. And then the other half are very career-focused and don’t want to have kids and just want to do their own thing. Both are completely respectable as well.

Benedict, 24, Neb., Republican, white, law clerk

Personally, having a family is No. 1 for me. I think a lot of the guys that I know feel similarly to me. And then a lot of the girls that I know, from what I understand, there are some girls that are incredibly driven and just want to have a career. That does exist. But there’s also a large amount of just girls in my life that I know that feel what a couple of other people have touched on as an artificial pressure to do something that they don’t really want to do. And I think that comes from people being very positive about the opportunity for a woman to have a career and go places there. But I think there’s also an increase in the positivity about the opportunity to be a homemaker and stay at home.

Alvin, 24, N.Y., Republican, Asian, engineer

Men just want to raise a family, have your own children and watch them grow up, have the same trajectory path that our parents had. The women I speak with, my friends, they go more toward a career path. They want nothing to do with kids. They just want to live their life right now.

Jake, 22, N.Y., Republican, white, analyst

Having the financial ability to support a family, including purchasing a home for that family to live in. I mean, I grew up in an apartment where I shared a room with my two brothers, so I guess my experience is contradictory to what I’m thinking, but I would say most people want to have a nice, big home for their big family. It’s hard to raise a family in a small apartment.

Heather, 23, Va., Republican, Asian, dog walker, tutor

It’s so expensive to even just keep ourselves alive. And then you want to be able to provide for the kids. And if a kid comes along who has medical issues ….

Alvin, 24, N.Y., Republican, Asian, engineer

Economically, nowadays, it just doesn’t make sense to have just one breadwinner in the household. It used to be you could buy a house easily with one person working. Not anymore. Culturally, there’s also a push on being independent and feminism, where it’s like, “Do not go the traditional route. It’s toxic.” That’s also another reason, but it’s not the main reason. It’s definitely economic reasons.

Kim, 25, Va., Republican, white, medical scribe

We are also having to go through I.V.F., unfortunately. There is a huge lack of care for women in health care. And the wait to get into doctors is atrocious. It’s incredibly expensive. It’s made it very, very difficult to start a family. There’s a fertility crisis, and there’s a lot of women that need fertility care. And it’s not easy to come by or affordable.

Stephen, 25, Ore., Democrat, white, analyst

The cost of living is definitely one thing. But another thing to take into account is people feel they will have to work that much harder to get ahead. That means less time to either start a family or even find someone to settle down and have a long-term relationship with.

Heather, 23, Va., Republican, Asian, dog walker, tutor

Immigration and ICE. There are strong feelings both ways.

Olivier, 20, N.J., Republican, white, student

I’ll rip the Band-Aid off. The conflict in the Middle East is a very controversial topic not just among my friends, with a lot of people my age. I think we are completely wasting resources and putting our priorities where they shouldn’t be. Apart from that, billionaires are more worried about hoarding their wealth than contributing to society.

Kim, 25, Va., Republican, white, medical scribe

I’m guessing a lot of people surround themselves with like-minded groups. But I’ve got to say, the one thing is, even though we all maybe voted the same, it doesn’t seem like we agree on anything. Everybody has their own little thoughts and opinions on each little thing, whether it be health care, out in the Middle East, ICE, everything. It just doesn’t seem like anybody can get along.

Alvin, 24, N.Y., Republican, Asian, engineer

Capitalism versus communism is a big issue for me. Especially in New York, socialism is appearing as a political party here in the United States.

Christian, 25, Tenn., Republican, Latino, curriculum adviser

In terms of what’s been positive: Hundreds of thousands of people have been deported, especially including some of the people who are dangerous, whatever that means. I don’t know if it’s been handled well, but in terms of getting people out that shouldn’t be here, in numbers, that has been good, maybe not the way it’s been done. Trump is very business-minded, which is amazing. But he forgets about certain people in different tax brackets. He makes decisions for maybe wealthier people in the front of his mind.

Jake, 22, N.Y., Republican, white, analyst

Some of the foreign policy stuff has been good, but I think the cost of things is probably a negative. It’s a little alarming. But I would say I’m pretty middle ground on which way I’m leaning. And midway through, I think that there’s still some time for the outcome of his term to be a little more favorable.

Caleb, 24, Maine, independent, white, management consultant

I think it’s hard for me to look at the status quo and not see it as objectively worse when it comes to policy, at least. I think there are certain things that I like in terms of financial moves; I like the 530 accounts. I liked parts of the Big Beautiful Bill. But at the same time, I feel like a lot of the policy that we’ve seen implemented has been reactive to other issues that were caused during the administration. And it’s very hard for me to look back on the improvements that were rebounds from Covid as an improvement in terms of the administration, rather than we’re in a better situation overall. So that’s why I’d say a 1.

Zachary, 25, Mo., independent, white, scientist

I’d say 1 mostly because I feel there’s a high level of corruption and a lack of transparency within this administration that I definitely either didn’t see or didn’t notice in the first Trump term. There are bettors on predictive markets out there who have made millions of dollars betting purely on United States military action with over a 90 percent success rate. And that just seems to be OK. With the new Trump v. Slaughter decision that came out only a couple of days ago, allowing Donald Trump to essentially fire agency chiefs just as he wants, and the opinion coming down that the executive branch is essentially just whoever’s sitting in the office — I feel like he wants to make it mostly a country for people that are already well off. Most of the policy that comes down isn’t benefiting 80 percent to 90 percent of Americans.

Alvin, 24, N.Y., Republican, Asian, engineer

Immigration, trying to cut down the cost or spending, those are positives. Foreign relations is what I had a negative on. But there are too many white-collar jobs. It’s just not sustainable that way. We’ve got to bring back blue-collar work, which is what Trump is trying to do.

Kim, 25, Va., Republican, white, medical scribe

I gave him a 2. One of the reasons I voted for him was because he was working on I.V.F. costs, and that has improved significantly, but it’s still not great. And my husband’s blue-collar. He started working overtime. We barely see the money. It seems like it’s still being taken away from us — a lot of taxes, a lot of things like that. And costs — it’s just too much. I understand we were bad off, and things have gotten better. But I also think the way that he’s acting has just been disappointing.

Zachary, 25, Mo., independent, white, scientist

Business-minded, self-sufficient, but also self-centered.

Olivier, 20, N.J., Republican, white, student

Free market, business mind-set as well.

Caleb, 24, Maine, independent, white, management consultant

No longer fiscally conservative.

Benedict, 24, Neb., Republican, white, law clerk

Fiscally conservative, free market.

Christian, 25, Tenn., Republican, Latino, curriculum adviser

Fiscally conservative, pro-America.

Kim, 25, Va., Republican, white, medical scribe

Opinionated, strongly opinionated.

Alvin, 24, N.Y., Republican, Asian, engineer

Strong to his roots, mainly the Constitution.

Stephen, 25, Ore., Democrat, white, analyst

I’d say traditionalist.

Jake, 22, N.Y., Republican, white, analyst

I would also say traditional and personal success.

Benedict, 24, Neb., Republican, white, law clerk

Thomas Massie.

Christian, 25, Tenn., Republican, Latino, curriculum adviser

I think JD Vance.

Stephen, 25, Ore., Democrat, white, analyst

Yeah, JD Vance. I’d throw, let’s see, Tim Scott, Ron DeSantis and Marco Rubio in that mix as well.

Heather, 23, Va., Republican, Asian, dog walker, tutor

Maybe JD Vance would be OK. I don’t know.

Kim, 25, Va., Republican, white, medical scribe

I’m sure this won’t go over well, but I would love to see Candace Owens go for it. I think that that would be pretty cool.

Zachary, 25, Mo., independent, white, scientist

Inclusive, but fiscally irresponsible.

Olivier, 20, N.J., Republican, white, student

All over the place.

Caleb, 24, Maine, independent, white, management consultant

Lost touch with its base.

Benedict, 24, Neb., Republican, white, law clerk

Socialism and Pride.

Christian, 25, Tenn., Republican, Latino, curriculum adviser

Overly inclusive and, yeah, financially irresponsible and Pride.

Kim, 25, Va., Republican, white, medical scribe

I was going to say irresponsible.

Alvin, 24, N.Y., Republican, Asian, engineer

Socialism and wanting change in the Constitution.

Stephen, 25, Ore., Democrat, white, analyst

Generally speaking, reactionaries.

Jake, 22, N.Y., Republican, white, analyst

Liberal and maybe a younger demographic, younger generation.

Kim, 25, Va., Republican, white, medical scribe

I don’t think there’s anything at this point. I’ve kind of lost my faith in pretty much everybody on both sides.

Kim, 25, Va., Republican, white, medical scribe

I will continue to vote. It’s important because there’s no way to actually be heard and to get change if you don’t vote. I just am feeling frustrated at the moment with how things are. I can’t say today I would go vote for somebody. It’s been a little disappointing.

Olivier, 20, N.J., Republican, white, student

The way I view the presidential vote is it’s just two wings of the same bird. It’s one big club, and we’re just not in it. I think the billionaires are always going to have one another’s side, no matter what. And they’re never going to prioritize the middle class from what we see and how it’s going so far. Until someone can prove me otherwise, I don’t know if I have any faith in what the politicians have to say, truthfully.

Caleb, 24, Maine, independent, white, management consultant

Particularly to your question for a Democratic candidate, I would like to see them address the issues that caused them to lose the last election. I need the faith to know that they are going to make changes that are actually pertinent rather than just, again, going for another establishment pick with the existing issues that lost them the previous election.

Jake, 22, N.Y., Republican, white, analyst

Be more transparent and not reactionary.

Stephen, 25, Ore., Democrat, white, analyst

Account for the people who voted him into office, and don’t just use them as a power-wielding tool for his own ego.

Alvin, 24, N.Y., Republican, Asian, engineer

Keep doing what you’re doing, but at least help us with the economy. That’s the most important part.

Kim, 25, Va., Republican, white, medical scribe

I think I would just have to say: Please don’t forget about us small-town, blue-collar, hard-working folks. We’re still here, and we’re trying. We need help.

Christian, 25, Tenn., Republican, Latino, curriculum adviser

Please don’t forget about folks who voted for you, the majority who are maybe not the wealthiest, or maybe not super poor, just the middle-class folks.

Benedict, 24, Neb., Republican, white, law clerk

If trusted individuals’ opinions and advice has been steering you wrong, maybe don’t listen to them anymore.

Caleb, 24, Maine, independent, white, management consultant

Focus on sustainable change.

Olivier, 20, N.J., Republican, white, student

I would like to remind him that he was tailoring to the average American during the elections. And now it seems like he’s tailoring toward the old generation and the generation that already has a ton of money saved up. So I’d like him to remember the average American as well.

Zachary, 25, Mo., independent, white, scientist

I think he needs to be working more for the working-class, average American, rather than being concerned with his image.