Some Trump voters may be turning on him, new focus group shows | Opinion
A new focus group of voters in North Carolina suggests President Donald Trump is having trouble with swing voters in battleground states.
Of the 14 participants in the focus group, just three of them approve of his job performance, and 12 of them are more worried about the economy than they were when Trump took office. All of them voted for Trump in 2024.
The focus group was conducted last week as part of an ongoing project by Engagious, Axios and Sago to study swing voters in battleground states. The current iteration of the project conducts monthly focus groups with voters who voted for Joe Biden in 2020 and Trump in 2024. They live in the seven most competitive states in the 2024 election, which includes North Carolina. While focus groups are not a statistically significant sample, they do provide an interesting snapshot of how voters are thinking and feeling as the 2026 election gets closer. And, unlike polls, they help explain the “why.”
Highlights of the focus group, which are available to view online, show participants expressing discontent with Trump and his agenda, including tariffs and the presence of armed immigration agents in U.S. cities, which one participant said is “out of control.” One voter believed Trump hasn’t kept his word, while another said there is “a disconnect between the average, everyday American people and the president.”
Interestingly, the group’s participants mirrored concerns that voters had about Joe Biden during his presidency. The vast majority of participants were familiar with reports of Trump struggling to stay awake during meetings, and they voiced concerns about his age.
“If it was wrong for other presidents, it’s concerning for him, as well,” one voter said.
“Even the appearance of being disengaged is concerning,” another added.
Another interesting takeaway: Some of the biggest controversies within the Trump administration aren’t registering with voters at all. Many participants weren’t familiar with U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, nor did they know why he’s been in the news so much lately. Hegseth has come under scrutiny amid reports that he may have committed a war crime by ordering the military to kill all passengers on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean. Only half of focus group participants could identify Hegseth by his photo, and while most of them had heard his name come up more often lately, they didn’t know why. It suggests that voters identify more with issues that directly affect them and their neighbors, like the cost of living and immigration issues. That’s a lesson that Democrats took too long to learn in 2024, but Republicans seem to be the ones struggling with it now.
The concerns voiced by voters during the focus group echo recent polls in North Carolina. A poll released this month showed that Trump’s approval rating in the state continues to decline, and voters are even more disapproving of his handling of economic issues, including inflation. Recent nationwide polls have found that Trump’s approval rating among the Republican base and his own MAGA supporters is slipping as well, and more of them are beginning to blame Trump for the ongoing affordability crisis. These numbers are most concerning among those who do not identify as MAGA voters but have voted for Trump and Republicans before — similar to the type of swing voter highlighted in the North Carolina focus group.
Trump himself won’t be on the ballot in 2026, but voters will certainly take their concerns about him and his agenda to the polls, much like they did with Biden in 2024. And as much as Trump has tried to contrast himself with or shift blame to Biden, voters are unhappy with him for much of the same reasons. But it’s unclear whether Trump is listening — or whether he’ll address it when he visits North Carolina later this week.
Paige Masten is an opinion writer for the Charlotte Observer and News & Observer of Raleigh.
This story was originally published December 18, 2025 at 10:14 AM with the headline "Some Trump voters may be turning on him, new focus group shows | Opinion."
