Republican enthusiasm for Trump policies surges ahead of second term: Survey

Republicans' optimism about President-elect Trump's agenda in his upcoming administration increased roughly 20 percent compared to their enthusiasm prior to his last term, a new Monmouth University poll found.

The survey found that 76 percent of Republicans are "very optimistic" about Trump's agenda, an uptick from the 53 percent who said the same before Trump's first term.

Nearly all, 97 percent, of surveyed Republicans are either somewhat or very optimistic about the policies Trump plans to pursue.

Overall, 53 percent of the survey respondents feel optimistic about Trump's policies compared to the 45 percent who are pessimistic. In 2017, 50 percent were optimistic while 43 percent were pessimistic.

Fifty-two percent of surveyed independents are somewhat optimistic, compared to 50 percent in 2017, the poll showed. Democrats are much less enthusiastic, with 10 percent feeling the same compared to the 18 percent in 2017.

When asked about different policy proposals from Trump, roughly one-third of respondents supported getting rid of income tax on tips, overtime and Social Security, compared to the 21 percent who opposed it, the poll found.

Less than half of respondents, or 49 percent, favor mass deportation of immigrants living illegally in the U.S., compared to 39 percent who oppose it.

On imposing tariffs on imported goods, 42 percent of respondents were in favor while 40 percent were against it, the poll found. Trump has threatened to impose steep 25 percent tariffs on all goods from Canada and Mexico — two key U.S. allies — and ramp up tariffs on China with an executive order he plans to sign on his first day in office. He also warned nations last month to forego efforts to adopt a new currency on Saturday by threatening to impose a 100 percent tariff on countries that try to weaken the U.S. dollar.

On each of these plans, majorities of Republicans back them, the poll showed. Most Democrats oppose the ideas, though they appeared more divided on eliminating income tax on tips, overtime and Social Security, the survey revealed.

Nearly three-fourths, or 72 percent, of surveyed Americans think that imposing tariffs will have an impact on their families. While 47 percent said the plan would hurt their families, 23 percent said it would help.

Sixty-four percent of respondents said that eliminating income tax on tips, overtime and Social Security would impact their families. More said it would help rather than hurt their families, 48 percent to 15 percent.

The poll was conducted Dec. 5-10 among 1,006 adults in the U.S., and the margin of error was 3.9 percentage points.