Latest news with #HinckleyInstituteofPolitics
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
How faith groups feel about the ethics of the Trump administration
As President Donald Trump marked the 100th day of his second term in the White House this week, the country reflected on the political turbulence of the past three months and the economic uncertainty that lies ahead. Several polls fielded in April found that Trump remains a polarizing figure, including in red states and in major Christian groups. A Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics survey conducted in mid-April by HarrisX showed that the share of registered voters in Utah who strongly approve of Trump's job performance (30%) is the same as the share who strongly disapprove (30%). A new poll from Pew Research Center highlighted a similar divide among U.S. Christians. For example, the survey showed that Protestant Christians in the U.S. can be nearly equally divided by their approval ratings for Trump, with 48% saying they disapprove of the way he's handling his job as president and 50% saying they approve. U.S. Catholics lean more toward disapproval. Nearly 6 in 10 (58%) of members of this faith group are unhappy with Trump's work so far, while 42% of Catholics approve. In addition to asking about Trump's performance, Pew asked about the ethics of his administration. The survey found that just 37% of U.S. adults rate the administration's ethical standards as either excellent (16%) or good (21%). Among religious respondents, white evangelical Protestants stand out for their belief that the Trump administration is guided by strong ethical principles. 'Around seven-in-ten White evangelicals rate the ethics of top Trump administration officials as good (35%) or excellent (34%),' Pew reported. Among mainline Protestants and Catholics, those who rate the administration's ethics as fair or poor outnumber those who gave a more positive assessment. That's even more true if you zoom in on nonwhite Protestants and Catholics, Pew found. Just 9% of Black Protestants and 25% of Hispanic Catholics rate the ethics of the Trump administration as excellent or good. Pew's survey was fielded April 7-13 among 3,589 U.S. adults. The margin of error for the full sample is plus or minus 1.8 percentage points.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
New poll: What do Utahns think of Trump's plans on Greenland and Canada?
President Donald Trump has big ambitions for the United States in the world. Aside from his focus on tariffs and the immigration, Trump seems to have expansion on his mind as he looks at erasing the border between Canada and the U.S., and expanding territorial lines north to Greenland. While Trump has so far maintained his popularity with the Republican base in Utah, they don't seem to have his same vision on changing the lines on the world map, according to the latest polling from the Deseret News and the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah, conducted by HarrisX. Trump has been candid about his dreams of erasing the line between the U.S. and Canada. Four days after his inauguration into his second term in the White House, he said, 'I would love to see Canada be the 51st state.' His sales pitch to the Canadians was simple: 'The Canadian citizens, if that happened, would get a very big tax cut — a tremendous tax cut,' Trump said at the time during a briefing for Hurricane Helene in North Carolina. Trump listed other benefits like better health coverage for Americans and combined military defense. Back in December, Trump went so far as to call former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau the 'governor ... of the Great State of Canada' in a Truth Social post. He hasn't leveled the same insult at newly sworn in Prime Minister Mark Carney. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt maintained the president is firm on his position of Canada 'becoming the 51st state' at a press conference earlier this month. The cracks Trump's position has cause in the historic alliance between the two neighbors is evident. Carney recently said his country has to forge a new path forward. 'There is no going back. We in Canada will have to build a new relationship with the United States,' he said. Former U.S. ambassador to Turkey Jeff Flake recently told the Deseret News that it's important to be aligned with American allies and criticized the language used by the Trump White House. 'Canadians love Americans, we love Canadians — we'll work it out,' he added. 'But some of the rhetoric is just unnecessary — the 51st state and things like that.' Flake traveled to Canada with Utah Gov. Spencer Cox earlier this month in the hopes of securing business partnerships for Utah. According to the Deseret News/Hinckley Institute poll, Utahns agree with Flake that they see Canada as an ally and not a potential new state. When asked what they think of the idea of Canada becoming the 51st state, nearly 7 in 10 Utah voters said they were strongly or somewhat opposed. Only 32% of voters said they either strongly or somewhat support the proposal. Jason Perry, director of the University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics, said, 'Most Utahns see the suggestion of Canada becoming the 51st state as unnecessary and even disruptive to a friendly relationship with an important ally.' Opposition to the idea crossed party lines, with 58% of Republican-identifying Utahns in opposition compared to 81% of Democrats and 78% of independents. The poll was conducted by HarrisX Interactive from April 9-12 of 800 registered Utah voters and has a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percentage points. Nearly 7 out of 10 of the surveyed voters said they believe the U.S. is creating unnecessary pressure with Canada. Again, only 32% said they believed it's a fair goal for Canada to join the U.S. The Deseret News/Hinckley Institute poll also asked whether they support applying pressure on Canada to become the 51st state. A strong majority, 84%, said they were against applying any type of pressure on Canada about statehood. Roughly 3% said they support applying military pressure while 13% backed using economic and political tactics to pressure Canada. Matthew Burbank, a political science professor at the University of Utah, told the Deseret News of the findings, 'What you're mostly seeing is that people in Utah are not particularly convinced about those reasons or where this is going, or that it seems to be part of any broader strategy.' Besides Canada, Trump also has his heart set on buying Greenland, a goal he has had since his first term in office. These plans quickly resurfaced in his second term. 'We need Greenland for national security and international security,' Trump said from the Oval Office late last month. 'So we'll, I think, we'll go as far as we have to go,' he continued. 'We need Greenland. And the world needs us to have Greenland, including Denmark. Denmark has to have us have Greenland. And, you know, we'll see what happens. But if we don't have Greenland, we can't have great international security.' The Trump administration is concerned about Chinese and Russian efforts in the Arctic Ocean. The two nations have conducted joint military exercises and made investments in new weapons while ramping up their presence in the northernmost region in recent years. In addition to being mineral-rich, the Arctic area holds strategic value because of the transit routes that flow through it, as Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton told NPR last month. Despite the value that Greenland holds, Utahns aren't receptive to the strategic takeover of the country that Trump suggests. As Burbank stated, the U.S. could have expressed its interests in a diplomatic sit-down with Greenland and Denmark officials. 'That's not the way President Trump approached this and I think that's in a large way leaving a sour taste for people,' he said. About three-fifths of Utah voters, or 58%, said they somewhat or strongly oppose the idea of Greenland becoming a territory of the U.S., according to the latest Deseret News poll. Meanwhile, 42% said they somewhat or strongly support the proposal. But Republicans in Utah displayed slightly more support for Greenland becoming a territory of the U.S., with around 62% saying they somewhat or strongly support the idea, compared to 13% of Democrats and 23% of independents. Polling out of Greenland suggests reluctance in joining the U.S. When asked whether they think Greelanders want to join the U.S., 73% of Utahns said they do not, while 27% said they do. Here, Republican-identifying voters were aligned with Democratic and independent survey respondents. In another question, Utah voters were asked what kind of pressure they would be comfortable applying on Greenland in pursuit of it becoming a U.S. territory. At least 16% said they supported economic and political interventions, while 6% said they backed military pressure. Overall, roughly 8 in 10 voters — or 78% — said they don't want the U.S. to apply any pressure on Greenland. It's worth noting that 23% of Republican-identifying voters are in favor of economic and political pressure and only 7% approved of military pressure. Perry said that although some Utahns are interested in expanding the union with Canada and Greenland, 'when asked about specific policies, voters show they are incredibly skeptical of applying any sort of pressure.' University of Utah's Burbank added that despite Utah being an overwhelmingly Republican state, there isn't 'a whole lot of support for these ideas' of the U.S. taking over Canada or Greenland.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
How Utahns think the U.S. should deal with Russia-Ukraine war
President Donald Trump vowed on the campaign trail to end the Russia-Ukraine war within 24 hours of taking office. That didn't happen. Now the president appears to be backing off from that promise, and hinted at walking away from negotiations altogether. 'If for some reason one of the two parties makes it very difficult, we're just going to say, 'You're foolish, you're fools, you're horrible people,' and we're going to just take a pass,' Trump told reporters last week. 'But hopefully, we won't have to do that.' Despite Trump's uneven messaging on the prolonged war, 54% of Utah voters approve of the job he has done to end the conflict, according to a new Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll. The survey found 35% disapprove and 11% don't know. 'Utahns still care deeply about Ukraine's sovereignty, and most believe the country shouldn't settle for peace if it means giving up land,' said Jason Perry, director of the University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics. 'That commitment to principle hasn't changed, but the way people want to support Ukraine has. There's been a clear drop in enthusiasm for things like military aid, sanctions and even humanitarian support. The support is quieter now, more cautious, and shaped by the fatigue that comes with a long, costly conflict.' The survey of 800 registered Utah voters conducted April 9-12 showed a wide partisan split, with 71% of Republicans approving of the president's handling of the war, compared to 23% of Democrats and 36% of unaffiliated voters. Younger voters approved of Trump's handling of the war more than older ones. Also, 83% of those who voted from Trump in the 2024 elections approve of his efforts to end the war, while an almost equal percentage of those who voted for Kamala Harris disapprove. Jovita Neliupšienė, European Union ambassador to the U.S., said the U.S. and EU have coordinated their efforts to help Ukraine militarily, financially and economically from the start of the fighting more than three years ago. They've also worked together on sanctions against Russia and controlling exports, she said. 'Now, there is a huge effort of President Trump to reach cease fire. I think that you would not find a person in Europe or in Ukraine who would not wish this war to stop. There is an easy way, actually how to stop the war, the Russia has to stop bombing,' she told the Deseret News last week after speaking at the World Trade Center Utah event in Salt Lake City. The Deseret News/Hinckley Institute poll asked whether Ukraine should pursue a peace deal with Russia even if it's required to cede 20% of its land to Russia or instead hold out for an agreement that preserves its territory and sovereignty. According to the results, 62% favored holding out for a peace deal, while 32% favored pursuing an end to the war. Democrats surveyed were much more inclined toward holding out than Republicans, 81% to 54%. Nearly three-fourths of unaffiliated voters favored waiting for a peace accord. The survey also showed Trump voters evenly split on Ukraine giving up land to end the war and holding out for a peace agreement. Among Harris voters, 83% supported holding out. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last week that the U.S. might 'move on' from trying to secure a Russia-Ukraine peace deal if there is no progress soon. A new meeting is expected this week in London, and Rubio suggested it could be decisive in determining whether the Trump administration stays involved, the Associated Press reported. 'We are now reaching a point where we need to decide whether this is even possible or not,' Rubio told reporters. 'Because if it's not, then I think we're just going to move on. It's not our war. We have other priorities to focus on.' In being asked to consider possible U.S. responses to the ongoing conflict, providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine topped the survey results at 58%, according to the poll. Just over half favored more economic sanctions on Russia, while seizing and freezing assets of private Russian citizens came in at 27%. Four in 10 surveyed support providing Ukraine weapons and supplies and one-fifth favor sending combat troops. And 17% prefer the U.S. do none of those things. Democrats supported all of the responses — except doing nothing — more than Republicans, particularly when it comes to humanitarian aid and providing weapons and supplies. Utahn voters' thoughts on the types of responses have shifted since the early days of the war as Deseret News/Hinckley Institute polling has shown. Most voters aren't as supportive of humanitarian or financial aid, though the latest survey found increased support for economic sanctions on Russia. The Biden administration imposed sanctions on Russia early in the war, including banning Russian flights, exports on luxury goods and military equipment. Sanctions aimed at the Russian central bank froze hundreds of billions of dollars of assets. Reuters reported last week that Democrats in the U.S. House introduced legislation to bolster Ukraine, including providing security and reconstruction funds, and imposing steep sanctions on Russia. Contributing: Brigham Tomco
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
New poll: Utahns back Gov. Cox and Legislature, but support is waning among these voters
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and the Utah Legislature have seen a decrease in voter approval driven by Democratic dissatisfaction, the latest Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll found. The Democratic decline has meant a diminished overall approval rating for Cox. However, the recently reelected governor still remains well above water, enjoying a 16-point net approval rating. Over the last year, Cox has changed his tone in support of President Donald Trump, taken a firm stance on conservative priorities like immigration law enforcement and signed Republican proposals that sparked protests on Capitol Hill. The result has been consistently high approval among GOP voters but also increased alienation among members of the state's minority party, according to Jason Perry, director of the University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics. 'The polling numbers with Democrats show that his perception has moved to the right of where it has been in the past,' Perry told the Deseret News. 'And it is a perception question, I don't know that he's changed, but that perception seems to have been adjusted.' From April 2023 to April 2025, Cox's job approval rating fell 26 percentage points among registered Democratic voters in the state, from 54% to 28%. Over that same period, Cox's approval among registered Republicans stayed nearly the same, shifting slightly from 68% to 66%. Of the 800 voters surveyed, 52% said they approve of the job Cox is doing as governor of Utah, 36% said they disapprove and 12% said they don't know. Two years earlier, a Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll conducted by HarrisX found that 64% of Utah voters approved of Cox's performance, 30% disapproved and 6% didn't know. 'It's encouraging to see that a majority of Utahns share the governor's vision to keep Utah the best place to live, work, and raise a family,' Cox spokesperson Robert Carroll said in a statement. 'But his focus remains where it's always been: on solving the real challenges that matter most to the people of Utah.' In both polls, respondents could choose between 'strongly approve,' 'somewhat approve,' 'somewhat disapprove' or 'strongly disapprove.' Comparing the datapoints from 2023 and 2025, the share of 'somewhat approve' fell by 10 percentage points, while the share of 'strongly disapprove' increased by six points and the other options remained roughly the same. The newest Deseret News/Hinckley Institute poll was conducted online by HarrisX from April 9-12 with a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percentage points. Perry, who previously served as chief of staff under former Gov. Gary Herbert, attributed the shift in perception toward Cox among liberal Utahns to two things: Cox's surprise endorsement of Trump and his association with culture-war bills passed by the Legislature. Cox entered office in 2021 as a Trump critic, saying he had not voted for his party's standard bearer in 2016 and 2020, and would not do so again in 2024. But following the Butler County, Pennsylvania, assassination attempt against Trump in July, Cox reversed his longtime position of distancing himself from the president and wrote a private letter to Trump pledging his support. While he has emphasized his 'Disagree Better' civility initiative, the Utah governor has also had to weigh in on polarizing issues, Perry said — like transgender participation in sports, sex-transition surgery for minors and, most recently, political symbols in public classrooms. In many cases, Cox has attempted to work with lawmakers to find a balanced approach that brings all sides to the table in pursuit of a compromise. But regardless of how these bills were handled, they were bound to anger some Democratic voters who view these social issues as unnecessary culture warring, according to Perry. 'He has to take an action on the bills that are given to him,' Perry said. 'And as he did, several of them are in the category where he's going to lose some support from Democrats.' As he launches his second — and what he promises will be his final — term as governor, Cox has focused on the message of 'Built Here,' doubling down on his goals of spurring the construction of 35,000 starter homes in the state and doubling energy production as Utah prepares to welcome new technologies and infrastructure ahead of the 2034 Winter Olympics. A similar story may be true of the Legislature, which has waded into several issues in recent years where the 'national narrative' has greatly influenced the 'local narrative' surrounding certain bills, Perry said. Utah voters give the Legislature an overall job approval of 49%, the latest Deseret News/Hinckley Institute poll found. There were 12% of respondents who strongly approved, 36% who somewhat approved, 21% who somewhat disapproved, 16% who strongly disapproved and 14% who said they didn't know. In March of 2023, the Legislature's approval rating stood at 53%, which falls just outside of the latest poll's margin of error. The biggest shift between the two polls is an increase in Democratic disapproval, which grew from 66% of Democrats in 2023 to 73% of Democrats in 2025. Republican support held steady, hovering between 66% and 68%. 'In a time of national polarization, Utah stands out for our level-headed, thoughtful governance that's responsive to the needs of our people,' Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, said in a statement. 'Common-sense' actions taken by the Legislature have allowed the state to build on its foundation as one of the best-managed, most charitable and happiest states in the country, Schultz said. In a statement, Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, credited 'Utah's volunteer spirit' with creating the conditions for Utah to rank No. 1 in economic outlook, continued GDP growth and rising teacher salaries year after year. On top of these achievements, Adams said lawmakers have made record investments in education, cut taxes by over $1.4 billion and made historic reforms to water law and energy regulations. 'These policy decisions reflect a commitment to long-term solutions, a thriving economy and a better future for every Utahn,' Adams said. During the 2025 legislative session, the Utah House and Senate overhauled higher education funding in the state to prioritize workforce needs, took steps toward bringing nuclear energy to the state and passed a flurry of laws to enhance public safety. The Legislature also reformed the state's vote-by-mail system to be opt-in, banned fluoride in public drinking water and prohibited public unions from using collective bargaining in negotiations with the government over taxpayer dollars. However, the vast majority of the important work done by the Legislature — like balancing the budget and funding transportation projects — hardly made headlines, said Marty Carpenter, a GOP consultant who managed the gubernatorial campaigns of former governors Gary Herbert and Jon Huntsman. Most people have a favorable view of their own representatives but end up judging the Legislature as a whole based on a few controversial bills that gained the highest profile, according to Carpenter. 'Polling like this tends to be there was one or two or a handful of bills that caught the public's attention,' Carpenter said. 'But I think if you really got people to answer an informed question ... that number would be far higher.'
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Congress should spend more money on assistance to the poor and less on foreign aid, Utah voters say
Utah voters believe the federal government should spend more money in several different areas, with foreign aid as a strong exception, according to recent polling. Voters overwhelmingly believe the government spends too little on education and assistance to the poor with only 15% and 16% of respondents saying too much money is dedicated to those areas, respectively, according to a new Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll conducted by HarrisX for the Deseret News. By contrast, the one area that voters say the government already spends too much money on is foreign aid. A majority of Utahns (56%) say the government spends too much money on foreign countries compared to just 13% who said more funding should be allocated. Another 31% said current spending levels for foreign aid are 'about the right amount.' A plurality of voters also say the government spends too little on certain entitlement programs such as Social Security. About 46% of Utah voters say the government should spend more money making payments to retirees, although 44% say current spending levels are 'about the right amount.' Similarly, 43% of Utah voters say the government should spend more on Medicare but 45% say the government already spends enough money. Another 12% said the government spends too much money on Medicare, according to the poll. Voters are more split on Medicaid spending, with 37% saying the government should allocate more funding compared to 45% who say current spending levels are fine. Another 18% say the government spends too much money on the welfare program. Those opinions come as Medicaid and other welfare programs may be on the chopping block for spending cuts later this year as congressional Republicans look for ways to reduce spending as part of their massive tax reconciliation package. As part of the budget resolution passed earlier this year, House Republicans are instructed to find $880 billion in cuts from the Energy and Commerce Committee, the panel largely responsible for overseeing Medicaid. A recent study by the Congressional Budget Office, a nonpartisan agency that provides budget and economic information to Congress, showed that lawmakers would likely need to slash Medicaid funding to cover the lost tax revenue from extending the 2017 tax cuts. In the CBO's budget projection, Medicaid accounts for roughly 93% of non-Medicare related mandatory spending in that time period. When one removes Medicare, Medicaid, or the Children's Health Insurance Program from the equation, funding under the committee's jurisdiction is only $381 billion. That's raised concerns among Democrats and even some moderate Republicans who say they won't support a package that contains substantial cuts to the welfare program. Still, lawmakers have left the door open to root out waste, fraud, and abuse related to Medicaid, giving GOP leaders some wiggle room when it comes to finding cuts. When it comes to spending on military and border security, most Utahns say the government is already spending enough. About 46% of Utahns say the government spends 'about the right amount' on both the military and the border, according to the poll. Only 35% say the government should spend more on the border and ever fewer (31%) say the government should allocate more funds toward the military. Only 22% of Utahns say the government already spends too much on the military compared to 19% who said the same about the border. Meanwhile, a majority of Utahns (54%) say the government spends the right amount of money on federal law enforcement agencies with only 26% wanting more. Another 20% said the government already spends too much on those agencies, according to the poll. The poll was conducted between April 9-12 among 800 registered voters in Utah. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
