Which groups do Americans think Donald Trump cares about most?

Jamie BallardData Journalist
March 17, 2025, 7:22 PM GMT+0

A new YouGov survey asked Americans which groups they believe Donald Trump cares about and to what degree he cares about them, if at all.

The groups that the largest shares of Americans think Trump cares about a lot — among a list of 30 groups included on the survey — are wealthy Americans (63% think he cares a lot about the needs and problems of this group), white Americans (51%), Republicans (49%), and men (41%).

The groups that the smallest shares of Americans think Trump cares about a lot are LGBT Americans (10% think he cares a lot about the needs and problems of this group), Democrats (13%), immigrants to America (16%) and government workers (18%).

There have been two notable changes to Americans' perceptions of which groups Trump cares about since October and August, when the question was asked on YouGov surveys conducted October 10 - 14, 2024 and August 20 - 24, 2024. The share of Americans who believe Trump cares a lot about young people has increased from 22% in August to 28% in October and to 30% in February. And the share of Americans who believe Trump doesn’t care at all about Americans who live in rural areas has increased from 24% in October to 31% in February.

Democrats are far less likely than Republicans to think Trump cares about most groups. Among the biggest partisan gaps: young Americans (3% of Democrats and 67% of Republicans think Trump cares a lot about them), veterans (6% vs. 69%), and middle-class Americans (3% vs. 65%).

For only one of the 30 groups asked about are Democrats more likely than Republicans to say Trump cares a lot about them: wealthy Americans (78% vs. 54%).

Men are more likely than women to say Trump cares a lot about women (30% vs. 23%). Men and women are about equally likely to say Trump cares a lot about men (42% vs. 41%). 25% of men and 37% of women say Trump doesn’t care at all about the needs and problems of women. 10% of men and 10% of women say he doesn’t care at all about the needs and problems of men.

Only 7% of Black Americans believe Trump cares a lot about the needs and problems of Black Americans; 31% of white Americans believe he does. 57% of Black Americans and 50% of white Americans believe he cares a lot about the needs and problems of white Americans. White Americans are more likely than Hispanic Americans to say Trump cares a lot about the needs and problems of Hispanic Americans (28% vs. 20%).

Americans 65 and older are more likely than younger adults to believe Trump cares a lot about the needs and problems of elderly Americans (37% vs. 25%). They’re also more likely to believe Trump cares a lot about the needs and problems of young Americans (34% vs. 29%) and middle-aged Americans (33% vs. 26%).

Related:

See the results for this YouGov survey

— Carl Bialik and Taylor Orth contributed to this article

Methodology: The poll was conducted online among 2,204 U.S. adult citizens on two separate surveys from February 7 - 10, 2025 and February 11 - 14, 2025. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of adult U.S. citizens. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 32% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 3%.

Image: Getty (Anna Moneymaker / Staff)

What do you think about American politics and everything else? Have your say, join the YouGov panel, and get paid to share your thoughts. Sign up here.

Explore more data & articles