In just over one week, 2025 will be here. It also means we're that much closer to the Biden-Harris administration coming to an end and President-elect Donald Trump taking office once more. There's a lot of hope to go around, not merely in our country and with Americans' personal situations and in politics overall, but also when it comes to the world stage. It looks to be a new era, including and especially compared to previous years, when Americans were stuck living under President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
On Sunday, CBS News/YouGov put out a poll showing that 57 percent of Americans are "hopeful" about 2025. At the time last year, ahead of 2024, 47 percent of Americans said they felt that way. About the same amount of Americans for each year said they were "discouraged," with 22 percent saying so in 2023 and 23 percent saying so in this poll. Many more said last year than this year that they felt "both equally," at 31 percent, compared to 20 percent with this poll.
In our politically polarized and partisan times, it turns out that Trump is indeed a major factor, for those who said they were both feeling "hopeful" and those who said they were "discouraged."
As a poll write-up from CBS News mentioned:
It does look like this very political past year is affecting that larger outlook going into next year.
Among those who say they're generally hopeful about 2025, their top reason is that Donald Trump will be president.
His upcoming presidency ranks even higher among things making them feel hopeful about 2025 than their outlook for their own personal relationships and finances.
The hopeful group includes a lot of Republicans, underscoring the extent to which politics seems to play a role in outlook generally.
When given the chance to choose all that apply as to why they're feeling hopeful about 2025, the most selected response had to do with "Donald Trump becoming president," which 60 percent selected. The next highest choice selected was "Family/personal relationships" at 55 percent, and both "Personal finances/opportunities" and "The U.S. economy" enjoyed 51 percent.
It makes sense that Trump would play such a role, given that a whopping 85 percent of Republicans say they're feeling hopeful, compared to 49 percent of Independents and just 38 percent of Democrats.
Of those who say they're generally hopeful about 2025 – a group that includes a lot of Republicans - their top reason why is that Donald Trump is becoming president.
— CBS News Poll (@CBSNewsPoll) December 22, 2024
That ranks higher than their outlook for their own personal relationships & finances. pic.twitter.com/X42EUI3d9G
Those who say they're feeling discouraged about 2025 seem to be particularly preoccupied with their negative feelings about Trump. "Donald Trump becoming president" was selected by 85 percent of those who said they are feeling discouraged, by far the most popular choice. Next is the 74 percent who are worried about "U.S, politics generally." While this is something of a vague selection, it's still rich that 79 percent of Democrats said so, given that the Harris-Walz campaign and other top Democrats repeatedly claimed that Trump was supposedly a fascist and a threat to democracy. The same goes for the 71 percent who say "The state of the world," given how much of a foreign policy failure the Biden-Harris administration was. Sixty-nine percent of Democrats chose this response.
For all of the Democrats' pessimistic and feelings of being "discouraged," there's plenty to be hopeful about in a new era of American politics. As polarizing as the numbers may seem about Trump, he won both the popular vote and the Electoral College this year, increasing his numbers from both the 2016 and 2020 elections.
And of those Americans who say they're generally discouraged about 2025 - a group that includes a lot of Democrats - their top reason is… that Donald Trump is becoming president. pic.twitter.com/MZq2I1nsiE
— CBS News Poll (@CBSNewsPoll) December 22, 2024
The poll findings make sense, both from a numbers standpoint, but also the direction for the mood of the country ahead of a second Trump administration. There has also been a slew of polls released since last month, including from CBS News/YouGov, showing good news for Trump, as a majority approve of his transition.
Biden's numbers are meanwhile atrocious. Sixty-one percent disapprove of the job he's doing, with a plurality, at 41 percent, saying they "strongly disapprove."
Fifty-four percent of respondents believe that the economy is bad, and the poll offered them the chance to break it down further. Sixty-nine percent said it's because "Joe Biden is president." Even 27 percent of Biden's fellow Democrats listed him being president as a reason. The selections chosen more included the 96 percent who said "Higher prices/more inflation," the 80 percent who said "General uncertainty/lack of confidence" and "Personal finances/experiences."
Biden has consistently received poor marks on the economy and inflation. According to RealClearPolling, just 39.2 percent approve of his handling of the economy, while just 34.5 percent approve of his handling of inflation.
There's hope on the economy with how Trump is about to take office, though, as a plurality, at 40 percent, believe he will make prices go down, while 36 percent say he'll make them go up, and 24 percent say there will be no change.
It's not merely the economy where Americans feel Trump will improve matters. A plurality, at 47 percent, believe he will "Increase peace and stability in the world." Another plurality, at 46 percent, believe there will be "More advances in technology" under Trump.
The poll was conducted December 18-20 with 2,244 adults and a margin of error of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points.
This week's edition of "Face the Nation" on CBS News also mentioned the poll, with host Margaret Brennan highlighting how "Americans are feeling more hopeful than discouraged as they look ahead to the new year. That's up 10 points from how they felt a year ago," which she referred to as "optimistic news."