As support for President Donald Trump among young people continues to plummet, The New York Times talked to 11 Trump voters in their 20s and 30s who said this is not what they voted for.
While some agreed that "changes were needed," they said that "the ones being made were too aggressive or focused on the wrong things, like tariffs."
"Everything just seems mad expensive these days. Prices used to be way lower," said John, 28, a Black Florida Republican.
Sarah, a 32 year-old white Montana Republican weighed in, saying, "Changes were needed to improve the way the country is running. But maybe some of them are too drastic in my opinion, and maybe not well advised."
The NYT asked, "When you think about Donald Trump, what’s the first word that comes to mind?"
The answers were particularly blunt: "Reckless," "overpowering," and "aggressive," three said.
"The way that he’s been handling things recently, dictatorship," said Mustafa, 28, a white Georgia Republican.
Cory, 28, a white Tennessee Republican got more specific to his own issues, saying, "I believed Trump was focused on lowering drug prices, prescription drug prices. I have a chronic condition. I’m a Type 1 diabetic. And since he has taken office, my medications have tripled in price."
When the Times asked if any of these voters had regrets for choosing Trump, Mustafa said that "It's not what I expected," while Quinton, 32, a Black Georgia Republican added, "For me, it comes down to taxes and jobs. The job market is just not good at all."
Quinton also expressed concern for rising gun violence, saying Trump has done nothing to tamp it down.
"I want him to focus more on gun violence. We keep hearing about these shootings. These current events just happened and also these school shootings. I have a lot of nieces and nephews," he said. "And we have to pray to make sure that our kids are going to school safe and having a safe school year. It’s crazy to me."
And while these Trump voters are still not sold on the Democratic party because of "lack of leadership, lack of identity," Mustafa said, they aren't sold on Vice President JD Vance as the heir apparent, with only one of the 11 raising their hands when asked if he would be a good leader of the party.
"I just think he’s so attached to Trump that he doesn’t speak his mind sometimes," said Abbie, 29, a white Republican.
Briana, 33, a Black independent agreed, saying, "Same. I don’t feel like he has his own persona. He’s just riding Trump’s coattails right now and taking on his energy and his persona. I don’t know what that will look like without Trump standing behind him, what type of leader he would be, personally, because he hasn’t shown us that."
Quinton said Vance was just another version of Trump/
"Yeah, I think he’s just a mini clone of Trump. I don’t really think he has any original ideas or ideologies that he stands for on his own."
The group tossed out a few names for who may be better than Vance and they were the usual suspects: Nikki Haley (R-SC), Secretary of State Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL), with another mentioning Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO).
But it was Trump's economy they all agreed was the reason for their disappointment and regret.
"The struggle is real now in general, with the groceries, cost of living, just how crazy health care expenses are. It’s way too much," Mustafa said.