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| In the 2024, elections Donald Trump was able to capture some AANHPI votes. |
After six months of a Donald Trump administration, his support among AANHPI is starting to wane.
Overall, there is a growing foreboding feeling that things will only get worse -- race relations, the economy, education, civil rights and foreign relations -- under the six-month old Trump administration, according to a recent survey by Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research with AAPI Data
Most AANHPI adults say racism is a serious problem in this country, but few have confidence in the government to handle it.
“Members of the AAPI community continue to face acts of discrimination and hate crimes or incidents at alarming rates,” says Jennifer Benz, deputy director of the AP-NORC survey.
“Many don’t trust the government to protect racial and ethnic minority groups from discrimination in the economic, housing, health care, or legal sectors.”
More AANHPI adults have unfavorable views of Trump compared to before he took office in December 2024 (71% v. 60%) according to a new AAPI Data/AP-NORC poll.
A majority also view JD Vance (61%), Elon Musk (64%), and Robert F. Kennedy Jr (57%) unfavorably. Dislike for Trump and Vance is higher among AAPI adults than in the general population.
FYI: Click here to read the entire report
Amid ongoing changes to US tariff policy under the Trump administration, most AAPI adults expect the price of goods to increase and their availability to decrease. A majority express deep concern about the cost of goods and the possibility of a recession.
About half of AAPI communities say that Trump’s tariffs will lead to a decrease in the number of jobs in the US, while only a quarter think they will result in job growth—a lower share than the general public (24% vs 40%).
The poll comes in the midst of Trump’s on-and-off threats to impose tariffs for what he says is his goal of leveling the nation’s trade imbalance. Inflation rose in June to its highest level since February as Trump’s tariffs pushed up the cost of household goods, from groceries to appliances.
TRUMP ECONOMICS IS HURTING
Consumer prices rose 2.7% in June from a year earlier, the Labor Department said last week, up from an annual increase of 2.4% in May. On a monthly basis, prices climbed 0.3% from May to June, after rising just 0.1% the previous month.
Like the general public, most AAPI adults are very concerned about the cost of groceries and the possibility of a recession. About half also express concern about the affordability of large consumer purchases, the cost of products at minority-owned small businesses and ethnic grocery stores, the availability of consumer goods, and the cost of eating out at ethnic restaurants.
Of those surveyed, fewer are concerned about the costs of shopping on direct shipping e-commerce sites, even though many of the food produts, spices, sauces and flavorings that AANHPI like to use to cook their traditional dishes.
“These results are in line with our previous polling on the cost of living. It’s clear that many AAPI adults are feeling increasingly pessimistic about their economic future,” says Karthick Ramakrishnan, executive director of AAPI Data and a researcher at UC Berkeley.
"They are not seeing big economic benefits pan out," Ramakrishnan says. "Quite the contrary, they are seeing big economic risks on the horizon based on Trump’s action on tariffs."
Shopan Hafiz, a 39-year-old independent and engineer at Intel in Oregon, described his view of Trump as “very unfavorable.” He expect's Trump's unpredictable tariff policy to hit American consumers harder in the coming months.
“With all the tariffs, I don’t think it’s going to help,” Hafiz said. “All the tariffs will ultimately be paid by U.S. nationals, and inflation is going to get worse.”
“The survey findings also suggest that the current administration’s economic policies are exacerbating these financial anxieties.”
Many AAPI adults describe key US trading partners as not friendly or enemies of the US, including China (87%), Mexico (44%), and India (40%). AAPI adults are more optimistic about the US relationship with Canada, with 70% describing Canada as a close ally or a friendly nation.
AAPI adults are unsure what the US’s role should be on the world stage: 38% believe the country should be less active, 37% think it should be more active, and 25% say its current level of involvement is about right.
Still, compared to the general public, more want the US to take on a larger role in world affairs (37% v. 23%). AAPI adults are more optimistic than the general population that diversity makes the U.S. stronger (73% v. 60%).
At colleges and universities, a majority also favor support services (66%) and scholarships (63%) for students from underrepresented groups, courses that teach about racism (62%), and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs (58%). Fewer in the general public agree with such measures.
AAPI communities are more divided about whether DEI programs have gone too far, not far enough, or been about right in colleges and universities, the federal government, corporations, and nonprofits.
RACISM IS STILL WITH US
When it comes to race and diversity issues in the US, about half of those in AAPI communities say racism is a very serious issue (53%), while another third say it is moderately serious. Seven in ten report experiencing discrimination when applying for jobs and shopping in stores. Just over half say the same when interacting with the police and doctors.
These findings are consistent with the inaugural AAPI Data/AP-NORC Poll from October 2023. Few are very confident in the government’s ability to adequately deal with discrimination in healthcare (15%), employment (12%), housing (12%), and law enforcement (11%).
Symbolically, under this Trump administration, the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders – also known as WHIAANHPI – is no more. It became one of the many casualties of the Trump administration’s crusade against diversity, equity and inclusion programs, or DEI.
“I think the decision to dissolve it – unfortunately in this administration it’s not totally surprising since they’ve cut so many other things – but it’s really disappointing,” says Dr. Julie J. Park, professor of education at the University of Maryland, College Park. She listed issues such as poverty, census counting and mental health in the aforementioned communities that she says will now get less attention since the White House initiative disbanded.
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There is the perception of the general population of all Americans that a significant amount of discrimination against Asian Americans dropped 14 points over that same time frame, from 46% in 2021 to 32% in 2025, according to the AP-NORC survey. Although reports of hate crimes or incidents among AANHPI adults have declined since October 2023, one in four still report they experienced such issues in the past year. This includes 13% who faced racial slurs or verbal harassment and 7% who were threatened with violence. Other surveys such as the pstudy issued by Stop AAPI Hate earlier this year have concluded that almost half of all AANHPI have experienced a form of discrimination and/or hate. |
While the AP-NORC study reveals that the AANHPI communities still lean left of center on most issues, the diversity in this group extends to views about Trump and it is important to not view the AANHPI communities as a monolith.
An NPR article about Asian American voters in Nevada, whom many believed tilted the swing state to vote for Trump, indicates that there are still Trump loyalists who believe in him. Surprisingly, contrary to popular belief, it was the immigration issue that swung many AANHPI votes to the GOP.
“He recognizes the difference between illegal and legal immigrants. Others try to blur the lines between the two groups,” Jennifer Hu tells the Christian Science Monitor.
"A lot of them are immigrants from other countries, and they did it the right way. They went through the process themselves. And I think they just want to be treated fairly," suggests Schayden Gorai to NPR. Gorai is a fiel representative for a conservative action group. "There's a right way and a wrong way to do things. They've done it the right way, and they think that everybody should also do it the right way and be treated equally."
FYI: The nationwide study was conducted by The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and AAPI Data from June 3-11, 2025, using the Amplify AAPI Monthly survey drawing from NORC’s Amplify AAPI® Panel designed to be representative of the U.S. Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander household population. Online and telephone interviews were offered in English, the Chinese dialects of Mandarin and Cantonese, Vietnamese, and Korean with 1,130 Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders aged 18 and older living in the United States. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4.7 percentage points.
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