SALT LAKE CITY — Utahns are largely supportive of President-elect Donald Trump’s policy promises, including his plans to conduct deportations and reduce U.S. involvement abroad, a new poll found.
The latest Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll, conducted by HarrisX, asked registered Utah voters if they support or oppose 20 of Trump’s stated policy promises, from his plan to end the conflict between Israel and Hamas to replacing the Affordable Care Act.
Full poll results can be found here.
On immigration, Utahns show partial support
Trump’s promise to conduct deportations for unauthorized immigrants who have committed crimes in the U.S. found widespread popularity among Utahns: 86% of all Utah voters said they support his plan, including 83% of Hispanics, 69% of Democrats and 73% of Kamala Harris voters.
But Trump’s plan to expand deportations to other noncriminal unauthorized immigrants is less popular. When asked if they support deportations for unauthorized immigrants who are “on public assistance,” 64% of Utah voters say they do. Only 50% of Hispanics and 33% of Democrats agree.
In Utah, public benefits are limited to “qualified” noncitizens, which does not include unauthorized immigrants. Public benefits are denied to unauthorized immigrants with only limited exceptions.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox has expressed support for Trump’s plans to deport criminals. In November, he released a statement outlining the state’s plans to cooperate with the federal deportation effort. During his monthly press briefing last week, Cox slammed the Biden administration for allowing “porous borders” and for not “taking this stuff seriously.”
“If you commit crimes, I don’t care if they’re violent or nonviolent, yes, you should not be here,” Cox said Thursday. “You shouldn’t have been here in the first place, but you definitely should not be here.”
Utah voters are largely supportive of Trump’s border plans. When asked if they support Trump’s plans to close the border “by reinstating past immigration policies that discouraged illegal immigration,” 76% of Utah voters say they do.
Utahns support plans to end wars in Gaza, Ukraine
Trump’s plans to decrease U.S. involvement abroad and end the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine enjoy widespread support from Utah voters.
A majority of Utah voters — 70% — say they support Trump’s plan to “reduce U.S. engagement in foreign conflicts.”
When asked if they support “ending the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza by demanding the full surrender of Hamas and the return of hostages,” 71% of Utah voters say they do.
The Biden administration has made repeated efforts to reach a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas. In recent days, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan dispatched to Israel to meet with Israeli and Hamas leaders. But attempts to broker a halt to the 14-month-long war have repeatedly faltered.
During his campaign, Trump pitched himself as the “greatest friend” Jews ever had in the White House. Last week, Trump vowed that “all hell is going to break out” if Hamas does not release its hostages by Jan. 20, the day he takes office. Earlier this month, in a social media post, Trump warned that there “will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity. Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America.”
Utah voters agree with Trump’s plan to kneecap Iran in an effort to secure peace in the region. A majority — 66% — of Utah voters support “imposing sanctions and other costs on Iran for attacking Israel and destabilizing the Middle East.”
But Utah voters are somewhat more tepid about Trump’s plan to end the war in Ukraine. Trump has refused to say whether he wants Ukraine to win the war, and he suggested that Ukraine will have to accept compromises — including perhaps ceding land — in order to reach a cease-fire. Trump’s critics note that Russia started the war, and have declared the Ukraine-Russia conflict as a clear good versus evil.
During a visit to Salt Lake City in July, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the war “one of the most transparent battles between good and evil in our time.” Zelenskyy was welcomed and praised by Utah government officials and civic leaders, including Cox.
In the poll, Utah voters were asked if they support “ending the war in Ukraine as soon as possible by freezing the current conflict lines, creating a demilitarized zone between Ukraine and Russia, and making sure Ukraine receives security guarantees from the West but stays neutral and doesn’t join.” Only 58% of Utah voters say they do, making it the third-least popular policy of the 20 polled.
Thumbs-up for Trump’s economic plans, tariffs
Trump’s policy promises to lower taxes, impose tariffs on foreign adversaries and increase domestic oil production all enjoy widespread support among Utahns.
The most popular economic promises are Trump’s vows to end taxes on Social Security payments, which 85% of Utah voters support, and to achieve 3% annual economic growth, which 84% of Utah voters support.
His plan to end taxes on tips for hospitality workers — a mainstay of Trump’s campaign in Western states — is supported by 78% of Utah voters, and his promise to expand the child tax credit is backed by 72%.
A major legislative victory during Trump’s first term was the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which reduced tax rates for corporations and individuals, is set to expire in 2025. A majority of Utahns — 59% — would like to see Congress make the 2017 tax cuts “permanent.”
Trump has vowed to sign a Day 1 executive order that would fast-track permits for domestic oil drilling. Trump’s pick for Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, has suggested the U.S. should increase energy production by 3 million barrels of oil per day — a plan 68% of Utah voters support.
Perhaps the most controversial aspect of Trump’s economic plans is his promise to levy tariffs against U.S. allies and foes alike. Trump claims the tariffs would spur domestic manufacturing and punish other countries for predatory trade practices.
A majority of Utah voters support the plan, at least in regard to China: 61% of Utah voters say they support “imposing new trade tariffs on China to help American manufacturing.”
2 unpopular plans: Obamacare and Jan. 6 pardons
Only two of Trump’s promises included in the poll failed to garner majority support from Utah voters: his plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and his promise to pardon the Jan. 6 rioters.
Since his first term in office, Trump has promised to replace the Affordable Care Act — colloquially called “Obamacare” — with his own health care plan. But he has never revealed the details of his health care solution, famously quipping during the September debate he has only “concepts of a plan.”
Over 45 million Americans rely on the the Affordable Care Act for health care.
When asked if they support Trump’s plan to replace it, only 48% of Utah voters say they do, including just 16% of Democrats.
Trump’s vow to “pardon those charged with crimes on Jan 6” is even more unpopular: only 35% of Utah voters support that plan. Even among Utah Republicans, just 48% say they support it.
Trump has dangled pardons for the more than 1,500 people charged in federal courts for their role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Trump has suggested some of those pardons will come on his first day in office.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
