WASHINGTON (AP) — Voters remain largely divided over whether they prefer Republican Donald Trump or Democrat Kamala Harris to handle key economic issues, although Harris earns slightly better marks on elements such as taxes for the middle class, according to a new poll.
A majority of registered voters in the survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research describe the economy as poor. About 7 in 10 say the nation is going in the wrong direction.
But the findings reaffirm that Trump has lost what had been an advantage on the economy, which many voters say is the most important issue this election season above abortion, immigration, crime and foreign affairs.
“Do I trust Trump on the economy? No. I trust that he’ll give tax cuts to his buddies like Elon Musk,” said poll respondent Janice Tosto, a 59-year-old Philadelphia woman and self-described independent.
An AP-NORC poll conducted in September found neither Harris nor Trump had a clear advantage on handling “the economy and jobs.” But this poll asked more specific questions about whether voters trusted Trump or Harris to do a better job handling the cost of housing, jobs and unemployment, taxes on the middle class, the cost of groceries and gas, and tariffs.
The poll found that 46% of voters prefer Harris on middle-class taxes, compared to 35% for Trump. Harris also has a slight advantage on the cost of housing. Voters are about evenly divided on whether Trump or Harris is better on prices for everyday essentials like groceries and gas, and neither candidate has an edge on jobs and unemployment.
Voters, meanwhile, are slightly more likely to prefer Trump on the issue of tariffs, which were defined in the poll as taxes on imported goods.
Poll respondent Amber Moody, 36, from Halifax, Virginia, said she trusts Trump — and Republicans in general — much more on economic matters.
“It seems to me that in my lifetime, every time a Democrat holds office, the economy suffers,” she said. “Prices go up, taxes go up and the national debt goes up. While I don’t approve of everything Donald Trump says and does, I do believe he is the better choice.”
Voters’ impressions of Harris and Trump have remained steady over the last month.
About half of voters have a very or somewhat favorable opinion of Harris, while 46% see her unfavorably. Meanwhile, about 4 in 10 voters have a positive view of Trump and about 6 in 10 have an unfavorable view. Trump’s favorability ratings have been remarkably consistent over the last few months, even after two assassination attempts and a felony conviction.
Compared to last month, views of the candidates are stable among Black and Hispanic voters, as well as among men and women. Black voters' views of Harris are overwhelmingly positive — about three-quarters have a favorable view of the Democratic candidate — and their views of Trump are negative, with about 2 in 10 holding a favorable view. Hispanic voters also view Harris more favorably than Trump, although the gap is narrower: About 6 in 10 Hispanic voters have a favorable view of Harris and about 4 in 10 have an favorable view of Trump.
The poll also shows a gender gap in views of the candidates heading into the final days of the election.
About half of women voters have a favorable impression of Harris, while only around one-third see Trump favorably. Among men, about half have a favorable view of Harris and a similar share have a positive opinion of Trump.
Overall, voters remain pessimistic about the state of the economy and the general direction of the country.
About half of voters describe the nation’s economy as very or somewhat poor. Republicans and independents are more likely than Democrats to express that view. There are modest signs of improvement, however, compared to an AP-NORC poll from October 2023, when about 7 in 10 U.S. adults thought the U.S. economy was in bad shape. The number was even worse in October 2022, when close to 8 in 10 Americans described the economy as poor.
About two-thirds of voters also say the country is headed in the wrong direction, while roughly one-third say things are moving in the right direction. Pessimism on that question has been fairly consistent over the last three years, although closer to 8 in 10 Americans thought the U.S. was heading in the wrong direction a year ago. U.S. adults were similarly gloomy just before the last presidential election, according to an AP-NORC poll from October 2020 when roughly 7 in 10 Americans felt the country was headed in the wrong direction.
Jeffrey Trimble, a 62-year-old Democrat from Hermitage, Pennsylvania, said he's increasingly optimistic about the direction of the nation after “four years of hell” during Trump's first term.
“We have some really good people at the top of our government who have a vision, they’re kind, they’re trying to get us back on track,” Trimble said.
Overall, the new poll highlights signs of trouble for both candidates as they work to assemble winning coalitions.
Younger voters are considerably more pessimistic about the health of the economy than older voters, and that's not good news for Harris, whose party has long relied on strong support from voters of color and young people.
Voters under the age of 45 are also slightly less likely than voters over 45 to trust Harris to handle the cost of housing or the cost of groceries and gas, although that doesn't mean they prefer Trump. Sizable shares of younger voters — about one-quarter on both issues — trust neither candidate or both equally.
On other issues, meanwhile, Trump’s most consistent advantage continues to be immigration.
Forty-five percent of voters say he's the better candidate to handle immigration issues, compared to about 4 in 10 who prefer Harris. About half of white voters trust Trump more on the issue of immigration, while about one-third say this about Harris. Hispanic voters are split on which candidate they prefer to handle immigration.
Harris’ strongest issues are abortion policy, with about half of voters saying she'd be better on that issue compared to about 3 in 10 for Trump; climate change, where about half prefer her leadership and about 2 in 10 prefer Trump's; and election integrity, where about half prefer Harris and about 3 in 10 prefer Trump.
The candidates are about even on the issue of crime. Foreign policy is also a key issue this fall, although neither candidate has a clear advantage on the situation in the Middle East. There are some signs of weakness on the issue for Harris within her own party, however. Only about two-thirds of Democratic voters say Harris would be the better candidate to handle the situation in the Middle East. Among Republicans, about 8 in 10 say Trump would be better.
Diana Campbell Williams, a 72-year-old Democrat who lives in Auburn, Michigan, cites foreign affairs as her top issue.
She says she's concerned about Russia, Iran and North Korea. She doesn't like Trump's questioning of NATO and his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I trust Harris more,” Williams said. “I feel she knows more about what’s going on, and I prefer the type of people she’d be surrounded by after the election.”
Peoples reported from New York.
The poll of 1,072 adults was conducted Oct. 11-14, 2024, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for registered voters is plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump watches a video on a screen with Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris as he speaks during a campaign event, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024 in Detroit. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Most voters think the economy is poor, but split on whether Trump or Harris can fix it: AP-NORC poll
FILE - This combination of photos shows Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, left, and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris during an ABC News presidential debate at the National Constitution Center, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
Most voters think the economy is poor, but split on whether Trump or Harris can fix it: AP-NORC poll
The Israeli military apologized Monday for a strike that killed three Lebanese soldiers in southern Lebanon, saying it is not battling the country's military and its troops believed they were targeting a vehicle belonging to the Hezbollah militant group.
Israeli strikes meanwhile hit nearly a dozen branches of a Hezbollah-run financial institution that Israel says is used to fund attacks but where many ordinary people keep their savings.
Last week, Hezbollah said it is entering a new phase in its fight against invading Israeli troops, as the region reckoned with the killing of top Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in a battle with Israeli forces in Gaza. Sinwar was a chief architect of the attack on southern Israel that precipitated the latest escalating conflicts in the Middle East.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to annihilate Hamas and recover dozens of hostages held by the group. Hamas says it will only release the captives in return for a lasting cease-fire, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the release of Palestinian prisoners.
On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led militants blew holes in Israel’s security fence and stormed in, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250. Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed over 42,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who do not distinguish combatants from civilians. The war has destroyed large areas of Gaza and displaced about 90% of its population of 2.3 million people.
Here's the latest:
CAIRO — The head of Israel’s internal security agency has visited Cairo to discuss reviving Gaza cease-fire talks after the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, officials said.
Israel and Hamas, as well as Egypt, which has served as a key mediator, appear to still be divided over whether Israel would retain control over parts of Gaza, a dispute that dragged the talks to a halt in August.
An Egyptian official said Ronen Bar, the head of Israel’s Shin Bet security agency, held an hourslong meeting Sunday with Egypt’s newly appointed intelligence chief, Hassan Mahmoud Rashad.
An Israeli official also confirmed the visit, speaking on condition of anonymity because it was not publicized. The visit was widely reported by Israeli media.
The Egyptian official, who was not authorized to brief media and spoke on condition of anonymity, said they discussed the possibility of reviving the negotiations after the death of Sinwar, who was killed in an Israeli military operation last week.
The official said Egypt is still opposed to any Israeli presence in a strip of land running the length of the Gaza side of the territory’s border with Egypt, and that Hamas is unlikely to lift its demand for a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
Hamas has said its demands for a lasting cease-fire, Israel’s full withdrawal from Gaza and the release of a large number of Palestinian prisoners in return for dozens of hostages held in Gaza for over a year have not changed following Sinwar’s death.
Bar also visited Egypt last Tuesday, before Sinwar’s death.
— By Samy Magdy in Cairo and Julia Frankel in Jerusalem
BEIRUT — Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister says implementing a nearly 2-decade-old U.N. resolution still offers the best path to ending the Israel-Hezbollah war.
In an interview with the Al-Arabiya network broadcast Monday, ahead of the arrival of a U.S. envoy, Najib Mikati said a new resolution appeared unlikely.
“There is no solution but a diplomatic solution, and the diplomatic solution is currently on the table,” he said.
U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, called for Hezbollah to withdraw from the border and for U.N. peacekeepers and the Lebanese army to control southern Lebanon, without any Hezbollah or Israeli presence.
Israel says the resolution was never implemented and that Hezbollah built up extensive military infrastructure right up to the border. Lebanon has long accused Israel of violating its airspace and failing to abide by other provisions of the resolution.
U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein, who was in Beirut on Monday, said U.N. resolution 1701 is “no longer enough” and a new mechanism must be put in place to ensure it is implemented “fairly, accurately, transparently.”
“1701 was successful at ending the war in 2006, but we must be honest that nobody did anything to implement it,” Hochstein said in a news conference after meeting with Berri. “The lack of implementation over those years contributed to the conflict that we are in today.”
Hezbollah, which said it would continue attacks on Israel until there is a cease-fire in Gaza, appears to have softened that position in recent weeks as Israeli strikes have eliminated much of its top leadership and pounded large areas of Lebanon.
Hezbollah now says it supports the diplomatic efforts of Mikati and Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a political ally of the militant group. Both Lebanese leaders have said they are no longer seeking to tie a cease-fire in Lebanon to one in Gaza.
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military has apologized for a strike in southern Lebanon that killed three Lebanese soldiers.
The military said it struck a truck on Sunday that had entered an area where it had previously targeted a Hezbollah truck transporting a launcher and missiles.
The military said soldiers were not aware that the second truck belonged to the Lebanese army.
The military said it is “not operating against the Lebanese Army and apologizes for these unwanted circumstances.”
Lebanon’s army is a respected institution within the country, but it is not powerful enough to impose its will on Hezbollah or defend Lebanon from Israel’s invasion. The army has largely kept to the sidelines as Israel and Hezbollah have traded blows over the past year.
Israeli forces invaded southern Lebanon at the beginning of the month and have been operating in a narrow strip along the border. Israeli airstrikes have pounded large areas of the country, targeting what Israel says are Hezbollah sites.
The militant group has fired thousands of rockets, missiles and drones into Israel since Oct. 8, 2023, the day after its ally Hamas launched a surprise attack into Israel, triggering the war in Gaza.
Smoke rise from an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh in the southern suburb of Beirut, as Beirut city seen in the background, Lebanon, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Flame rise from a building that was hit by an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A man checks his destroyed car at the site of an Israeli airstrike that hit several branches of the Hezbollah-run al-Qard al-Hassan in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Rescue workers use a bulldozer to remove rubble of destroyed buildings at the site of an Israeli airstrike that hit several branches of the Hezbollah-run al-Qard al-Hassan in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Residents check destroyed buildings at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A worker cleans a street as smoke rises from a destroyed building that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, early Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Smoke rises to the sky as fire burns in a site next to houses after a rocket, fired from Lebanon, hit a location near the town of Rosh Pinna, northern Israel, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
A firefighter works to extinguish a fire after a rocket, fired from Lebanon, hit an area near the town of Rosh Pinna, northern Israel, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Israeli police officers stand next to a site of a fire after a rocket, fired from Lebanon, hit an area near the town of Rosh Pinna, northern Israel, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
A Israeli police officer walks past site of a fire after a rocket, fired from Lebanon, hit an area near the town of Rosh Pinna, northern Israel, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Smoke rises following an explosion in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Flames and smoke rise form an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A destroyed apartment at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Documents of Hezbollah-run al-Qard al-Hassan are scattered at the site of an Israeli airstrike on Sunday night in Beirut's southern suburb, Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
