WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 turned to the president-elect Donald Trump in this year’s election, but they came to his coalition with radically different views and interests than older conservatives or most top Republican leaders.

Trump won nearly half of voters in the age group, compared with about a third in 2020, according to AP VoteCast, a poll of more than 120,000 voters nationwide. That means that while younger voters made up a relatively small share, about 15 percent, of his coalition, he was nearly as strong in this group as Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee.

VoteCast found that younger Trump voters were more motivated by the economy than immigration, were generally concerned about climate change and wanted more government involvement in health care and student loan debt cancellation.

That could inform the course Trump sets for his second term and how Republicans looking at the 2026 midterm elections and the 2028 presidential race react. The GOP has traditionally opposed broad action on climate change, health care or student loans. Meanwhile, Trump has vowed to mount the largest deportation crackdown in US history and impose high tariffs, actions that economists warn could raise prices and cost jobs.

“Donald Trump’s rhetoric didn’t stop them from supporting him this time,” said Barrett Marson, a Republican strategist based in the battleground state of Arizona. “It seems that economic problems have overtaken everything. So if Donald Trump follows through on his economic promises, will young people stick with the Republicans? That’s a question we can’t answer right now.”

More moderate and less motivated by immigration

Trump has made inroads among younger voters, but this has not been accompanied by a major ideological shift. According to AP VoteCast, just over half of Trump voters under 30 said they were somewhat or very conservative, compared with about 8 in 10 Trump voters 65 and older.

While younger Trump voters identified with his “Make America Great Again” movement, they were less likely to say they were MAGA Republicans than older Trump voters.

Younger Trump voters’ motivations for voting this year also looked different than older Trump voters. About 6 in 10 Trump voters 65 and older said the situation on the U.S.-Mexico border was the most important issue for their vote, compared with about a third of Trump voters under 30.

Younger Trump voters focused more on the economy. About half of those voters said the economy and jobs were the top issue facing the country, compared with about 4 in 10 older Trump voters.

Many younger Trump voters want big government

A second Trump administration could target government programs and services such as Affordable Care Act subsidies, but may not be popular with his younger supporters.

Trump voters under 30 were almost evenly split on whether the government should do more to solve people’s problems. Just under half agreed with this, while about half said the government does too many things better left to businesses and individuals. That compares with about 2 in 10 Trump voters 65 and older who said the government should do more and about 8 in 10 who said the government is doing too much.

There is a wider age gap on this question among Trump voters than there was in 2020, when about 6 in 10 Trump voters under 30 said the government does too much that should be left to businesses and individuals physical, compared to about three-quarters. among Trump voters 65 and older.

Two issues, health care and debt relief, could be particularly big sticking points for younger Trump supporters. More than half of them want the government to get more involved in health care coverage, compared with about 3 in 10 older Trump voters. There is a similar divide over whether the government should be more involved in medical debt forgiveness.

Trump criticized Democratic President Joe Biden’s student debt forgiveness program, although Trump did not specify how he would address the issue. Nearly half of Trump voters aged 18 to 29 strongly or somewhat favor the government canceling student loan debt for more people, compared with about 1 in 10 Trump voters over 65.

Climate change is a significant concern

According to climate change experts, Trump said he would target some of the national climate policies that are most effective at reducing global warming greenhouse gas emissions. About 6 in 10 Trump voters under 30 were somewhat or very concerned about the effects of climate change in their community, compared to about 3 in 10 Trump voters 65 and older.

Younger Trump voters were much more divided on how the US should approach energy policy, with a significant share supporting the kinds of alternative energy investments that Trump has promised to roll back.

Slightly more than half wanted the U.S. to expand fossil fuel production as Trump has promised, compared with about 8 in 10 Trump voters 65 and older. And about 4 in 10 Trump voters under 30 wanted the U.S. to focus on expanding the use of alternative energy, compared to 14 percent of Trump voters 65 and older.

Tariffs and tough immigration policies are less popular

Another potential problem for Trump: the tariffs he promised are another dividing line between his constituents. Just under half of Trump voters under 30 are somewhat or strongly opposed to the tariffs, while about 8 in 10 Trump voters over 65 are in favor.

His immigration policies could also be a problem for some of Trump’s younger supporters. About half of Trump voters under 30 agree with reducing the number of people who can claim asylum at the border, compared with about 8 in 10 Trump voters 65 and older.

More than 4 in 10 Trump voters under 30 think immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally should be given a chance to apply for legal status, compared with about 2 in 10 Trump voters 65 and older. In 2020, there was no age divide on this question among Trump voters.

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Associated Press writer Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix contributed to this report.

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AP VoteCast is a survey of the American electorate conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago for Fox News, PBS NewsHour, The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press. The survey of over 120,000 voters was conducted over eight days, ending with the closing of the polls. Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish. The survey combines a random sample of registered voters drawn from state voter files; self-identified registered voters using NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak panel, which is designed to be representative of the US population; and self-identified registered voters selected from online non-probability panels. The margin of sampling error for voters is estimated to be plus or minus 0.4 percentage points. Find more details on the APVoteCast methodology at