2025… How Do Americans View the New Year?

3rd January 2025

4 minutes read

2025... How Do Americans View the New Year?

As 2025 approaches, Americans seem more optimistic than discouraged, and even more optimistic than they were in 2024.

The politically intense past year appears to influence this broader perspective for the upcoming year, shaping how Americans view the next 12 months in all aspects of life.

According to opinion polls conducted by the “YouGov” center, 18% of Americans believe that the new year will be great for the country, while 21% think it will be good, 16% believe it will be okay, 17% think it will be bad, and 18% expect it to be terrible.

69% of Republicans believe that 2025 will be a good or great year for the country, compared to only 29% of Independents and 19% of Democrats who share this view.

However, a much larger number of Americans expect good things for themselves in the new year rather than bad things. Around half of Americans (49%) are optimistic about the new year, with 21% expecting 2025 to be great, and 27% believing it will be good. In contrast, only 17% have negative expectations for the new year, with 10% expecting it to be bad and 7% believing it will be terrible.

Optimism is higher among Republicans compared to Democrats or Independents. 64% of Republicans believe that 2025 will be a good or great year for them personally, compared to 42% of Democrats and 40% of Independents.

41% of Americans believe that their lives will be better in 2025. The majority of Republicans (56%) feel this way, compared to 34% of Democrats and 34% of Independents.

15% of Americans, including 4% of Republicans and 28% of Democrats, believe their lives will be worse in 2025.

Trump, the Cause

Among those who are generally optimistic, the main reason for this optimism is Donald Trump’s entry into the White House on January 20.

For these people, Trump’s presidency ranks higher among the factors making them optimistic about 2025 than their expectations for personal relationships or finances.

The optimistic group is largely made up of Republicans, highlighting the significant impact of politics on future outlooks, according to CBS News.

On the other hand, among the more pessimistic Americans, a group that includes many Democrats, the main reason for their pessimism is the fact that Donald Trump will be president.

High Expectations

Overall, Trump’s return to the White House is associated with high expectations from American voters. However, the journey to achieving these goals will be difficult from the moment he takes the oath of office on January 20.

The economy is the top issue that confronted Americans during Trump’s campaign, specifically inflation and rising grocery store prices.

Trump said during his “Person of the Year” honor at Time magazine’s event on December 12 in New York: “They’ll soon find their groceries in grocery stores.”

However, this may not be the case, at least not immediately, according to Ed Hirs, an economist at the University of Houston.

Trump plans to impose tariffs of up to 25% on goods imported from the U.S.’s top trading partners, including Mexico and Canada.

Hirs noted that if the president follows through on his campaign promises to raise taxes on imports, the result could be higher prices for American consumers.

Another Issue: International Conflicts

The U.S. involvement in international conflicts is another issue the Trump administration will need to address, including the Israeli-Palestinian war in Gaza.

Trump’s alliance with Israel is well known, but with more than 45,000 Palestinians killed by Israeli airstrikes since the conflict began on October 7, 2023, how the elected president handles this war will be closely scrutinized both domestically and internationally.

During his first term, Trump became the first Western leader to officially recognize Israel’s control of the Golan Heights, a Syrian territory Israel has occupied since 1967. Now that Trump has secured a second term, some members of the Israeli government hope he will recognize the annexation of settlements in the West Bank by Israel.

The war in Ukraine will also present a major challenge for Trump as soon as he returns to the White House. He has stated to journalists that he plans to discuss the situation with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to bring an end to the war, which has lasted nearly three years.

Trump added: “We have to come to an agreement,” referring to what both leaders will need to do to end the war.