Why young men are losing faith in Trump’s economy

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On a recent crisp college football Saturday, Michigan State senior Zach Larson sat in a lawn chair sipping a can of Modelo that he said cost nearly twice as much as it did when he was a freshman.

Tailgating near the student union in a backwards cap, hoodie and Oakley sunglasses, Larson lamented the rising prices of everything around him — beer, tuition, the gas for his truck — and a president he said wasn’t focused enough on the challenges facing his generation.

The frustrations have transformed Larson’s politics. Once a self-described “hard-right” conservative who voted for Donald Trump in 2024, Larson now considers the president a “tyrant” and said he’s likely to cast a ballot for Democrat Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan’s closely watched Senate race .

“Seeing the economy in this state, it’s very hard to be a conservative,” said Larson, a 21-year-old criminal justice major, “and I wouldn’t call myself that anymore.”

Two years ago, young men like Larson helped propel Trump back to the White House. Their exuberant embrace of the Republican ushered in a vibe shift that turned support for Trump into a cultural statement. It seemed to mark the dawn of a new political era that would be, in the parlance of online bros, “for the boys.”

Now, with control of Congress at stake, Republicans in tight races across the country are struggling to keep those same young men in their corner. Polls suggest widening disillusionment with Trump among a generation increasingly pessimistic about its future. Nearly twice as many men under 30 say they’re more likely to vote for a Democratic candidate than a Republican in November, according to a recent Pew Research poll of registered voters , a stunning shift after a roughly even split their vote in 2024 .

To understand the political whiplash, CNN spoke with two dozen young men around Lansing, Michigan, where a Big Ten campus, the state capital and two General Motors plants put college students, young professionals and blue-collar workers into close proximity. The region has drawn intense attention from statewide candidates for governor and Senate and is home to a highly competitive House race.

Matthew Dae Smith/Lansing State/USA Today Network/Imagn Images

Their frustrations ranged from the war with Iran to Trump’s embrace of artificial intelligence and to the proliferation of data centers. Some remain ambivalent to politics; a few weren’t ready to give Democrats a pass. But nearly all described mounting anxiety about the cost of getting by and fears that the American dream was moving out of reach.

Caleb Christie, a 19-year-old construction management major at Michigan State, said Trump’s election offered hope to his generation that the traditional milestones of adulthood — a stable career, a home, a family — might become more attainable.

“That’s shifted over his presidency, where we’re not seeing those things come to fruition,” Christie said. “So I think a lot of people are hesitant and are taking more time to think about what they really value and what they want out of politics in America.”

At nearby Lansing Community College, 19-year-old Andrew Jubeck said his parents have encouraged him to follow his passions — botany and biology — but that increasingly feels financially risky.

“If we do what we want,” he said, “how are we going to be able to afford to live?”

Not everyone, though, is ready to blame Trump.

“No president was universally liked,” said George Hoppe, a 19-year-old business major at Michigan State. “It’s a hard job. He’s doing what he’s got to do.”

Polls show a stunning shift happening with young men, who were a key part of President Trump’s coalition in 2024, ahead of the November midterm elections. CNN's Steve Contorno speaks with young men about the issues driving the shift in Michigan, where a critical Senate race is playing out.

In 2024, economic hardships and lingering resentments over pandemic disruptions fueled disillusionment in young men. Trust in public institutions and the older generations leading them eroded . Trump and his campaign seized on the angst.

At Trump’s direction, Republicans approved a new platform promising to “bring back the American dream” for young people. He campaigned to “quickly bring down all prices,” declared “young people will be able to buy a home again” and insisted he wouldn’t send another generation of young men into a foreign war.

Trump reinforced the message through a fast-growing ecosystem of online male influencers — comedians, professional athletes, podcasters and pranksters — whose politics reflected the disenchantment of their young audiences.

But the conditions that made young men receptive to Trump haven’t improved and, in some ways, have worsened. The median age of a first-time homebuyer has jumped to 40 years old while nearly six in 10 adults under 25 live with their parents . Fewer young people are working than when Trump took office , and those who are increasingly say they need side hustles to get by . There are now 21 confirmed deaths of US servicemen as a result of Trump’s war with Iran and hundreds more wounded.

Trump’s efforts to hang onto their support — a UFC fight on the White House lawn, regular appearances at sporting events and a bombardment of advertisements during college and professional football games — don’t seem to have moved the needle.

“Kids are demoralized on our side,” a Republican operative close to the White House said. “There’s no point in hiding the ugly truth.”

Meanwhile, some of the influencers who helped Trump reach young men have also grown skeptical . Popular podcaster Joe Rogan criticized Trump over the war with Iran , while other personalities have shown greater openness to Democrats or pivoted away from politics altogether.

But Isaiah Fuller, president of the United Autoworkers Union Local 602 in Lansing, isn’t yet convinced young men are abandoning Trump en masse. He said his younger members have become increasingly vocal in opposing the union’s endorsements and they remain entertained by Trump’s antics, even when his policies collide with union priorities.

“They get to see their wildest dreams lived through somebody who feels they’re untouchable,” Fuller said. “We have a lot of younger workers that don’t have the same views as we do as an organization, so they don’t understand that they’re shooting themselves in the foot.”

At Michigan State, the student response to uncertainty has undergone a shift, said Karin Hanson, director of the university’s career services network. Rather than withdrawing, as she has seen past generations do, students are adapting to a realization that “not one person is going to save us.”

“They’re not shutting down,” she said. “And they’re very open to plan A, B, C, and D.”

For Jospeh Burke, a 21-year-old senior studying data science and biochemistry, plan B is a dramatic career pivot: the priesthood. Looking ahead at the rise of artificial intelligence and an out-of-reach housing market, seminary school has begun to look appealing.

“I’m kind of just looking for something that has secure options,” Burke said.

Matthew Holland, an 18-year-old at Lansing Community College, doesn’t yet have a backup plan if AI continues to eliminate the web design career he once envisioned. But he knows whom he doesn’t trust to protect workers: the Trump administration.

“They are doing as much as they can to rack in profits using AI,” he said, “and trading out labor in favor of AI.”

Anton Gegaj, president of the Michigan State College Republicans, said he thinks the economic angst is overblown and typical of most generations. He pointed to Trump’s new $100,000 fee on H1B visas, aimed at encouraging companies to hire US workers rather than foreign ones, as a step toward creating opportunities that would benefit young people.

“When Trump focused on that, it was great,” Gegaj said.

He acknowledged, however, that Trump lost many of his peers on campus when the military took action against Iran and gasoline prices shot up.

“It really was just the Iran war,” Gegaj said, “and if it ended quickly, young people would come back to him.”

As young men began souring on Trump, El-Sayed sought to make college students a key constituency in his Democratic Senate primary, packing rooms on campuses across Michigan.

In April, he appeared at Michigan State alongside Hasan Piker , a progressive influencer with millions of online followers whose criticism of Israel has drawn accusations of antisemitism. The event attracted scrutiny — and hundreds of students, many of them young men.

Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

“It generated a lot of controversy, but never have I ever had so many young men reach out to us at once, and they all told us that was so cool,” said Aastha Singh, president of MSU College Democrats, which helped to organize the event. “I feel like especially in our club, you could see that was a big shift.”

Christie, the construction management major, praised El-Sayed for speaking to young people’s basic needs. Jubeck, the Lansing Community College student, said El-Sayed’s online presence rivaled what he’s seen from MAGA influencers and he wished more Democrats would emulate it. El-Sayed, for example, has posted videos of his workouts as his campaign juxtaposes his spin on masculinity against Trump’s bravado.

“I see on TikTok all the time what the White House is posting, and the AI generated content that involves Trump, and I just think that’s very immature,” he said. “At the same time, I don’t think the Democratic Party is fighting that the correct way.”

But Michigan State freshman Simon Justin, who opposes Trump, said he’s wary of the growing appeal of socialist candidates and policies among young progressives. While he worries that a college degree is too expensive and won’t offer his generation the same opportunities it once did, he remains convinced that capitalism is the best path forward.

“I’m not a socialist. I don’t think that works. I think that would be essentially a lead into tyranny for America,” he said.

Mike Rogers, the Republican nominee for Senate, has repeatedly criticized El-Sayed for appearing alongside Piker. But the former Congressman’s campaign also privately acknowledges the difficulty reaching young voters increasingly drawn to figures like Piker and a surging democratic socialist movement.

Some conservatives have responded to Gen Z’s economic worries by calling them lazy and entitled. An online debate over a college student’s complaint about a $20 burrito grew so animated that Vice President JD Vance weighed in to defend young people.

Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

Rogers hasn’t joined the growing criticisms of young men from his party and has stepped up his outreach in recent months. He has appeared at college football tailgates while his campaign sent a moving billboard to Ann Arbor attacking El-Sayed’s past criticism of football. “Abdul El-Sayed thinks your national championship is racist and toxic,” it said. (El-Sayed, for his part, has touted his high school football credentials and accused Rogers of having “beta energy.”)

This weekend, College Republicans from across the country will descend on Michigan to help knock doors.

“Unfortunately, they are doing a good job on campuses,” Rogers said at a recent campaign event . “It’s a little scary, but we’re working on it.”

Kent Nishimura/AFP/Getty Images

在最近一个阳光明媚的大学橄榄球周六，密歇根州立大学大四学生扎克·拉尔森坐在草坪椅上，一边啜饮着一罐莫德罗啤酒，一边说这罐啤酒的价格几乎是他大一时价格的两倍。

拉尔森反戴着棒球帽，穿着连帽衫和 Oakley 太阳镜，在学生会附近参加赛前聚会，他抱怨着周围一切事物的价格都在上涨——啤酒、学费、卡车的汽油——以及他认为总统没有足够关注他这一代人面临的挑战。

这些挫折感改变了拉尔森的政治立场。拉尔森曾自称是“极右翼”保守派，并在2024年投票支持唐纳德·特朗普，但现在他认为这位总统是“暴君”，并表示他很可能会在备受关注的密歇根州参议院选举中投票给民主党人阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德。

“看到这个州的经济状况，很难做一个保守派，”21岁的刑事司法专业学生拉尔森说，“我不再称自己为保守派了。”

两年前，像拉尔森这样的年轻人助力特朗普重返白宫。他们对共和党的热情拥护，引发了一种风向转变，将对特朗普的支持变成了一种文化宣言。这似乎标志着一个全新政治时代的到来，用网络兄弟们的话来说，这个时代“属于兄弟们”。

如今，国会控制权岌岌可危，共和党在全国各地选情胶着的选区中，正竭力争取年轻选民的支持。民调显示，对特朗普日益失望的年轻一代，以及对未来日益悲观的一代人，对特朗普的失望情绪正在加剧。皮尤研究中心最近一项针对已登记选民的民调显示，30岁以下的男性选民中，表示他们更有可能在11月投票给民主党候选人而非共和党候选人的人数几乎是后者的两倍，这与他们在2024年投票时两党势均力敌的局面形成了鲜明对比。

为了解政治局势的剧烈波动，CNN采访了密歇根州兰辛市周边的二十多位年轻人。兰辛市既是十大联盟大学所在地，又是州首府，还有两家通用汽车工厂，大学生、年轻的专业人​​士和蓝领工人在这里聚集。该地区吸引了众多州长和参议员候选人的关注，同时也是竞争激烈的众议院席位争夺战的焦点。

马修·戴·史密斯/兰辛州立大学/今日美国网络/Imagn Images

他们的不满涵盖了从伊朗战争到特朗普对人工智能的拥抱，再到数据中心的激增等方方面面。有些人对政治依然漠不关心；少数人还不打算放过民主党人。但几乎所有人都表示，他们越来越焦虑于生活成本的上涨，并担心美国梦正在变得遥不可及。

19 岁的卡莱布·克里斯蒂是密歇根州立大学建筑管理专业的学生，​​他说特朗普的当选让他的同龄人看到了希望，认为成年后的传统里程碑——稳定的职业、住房、家庭——可能会变得更加容易实现。

克里斯蒂说：“这种情况在他的总统任期内发生了转变，我们没有看到这些事情得到实现。所以我认为很多人都在犹豫，他们正在花更多的时间思考他们真正重视的是什么，以及他们希望从美国政治中获得什么。”

在附近的兰辛社区学院，19 岁的安德鲁·朱贝克表示，他的父母一直鼓励他追求自己的爱好——植物学和生物学——但他越来越觉得这样做在经济上风险很大。

“如果我们随心所欲，”他说，“我们怎么能负担得起生活呢？”

然而，并非所有人都准备将责任归咎于特朗普。

“没有哪个总统是人人都喜欢的，”密歇根州立大学19岁的商科学生乔治·霍普说。“这是一份难做的工作。他只是在做他必须做的事情。”

民调显示，在11月中期选举前夕，年轻男性选民群体正在发生惊人的转变。他们曾是特朗普总统2024年竞选联盟的关键成员。CNN记者史蒂夫·康托诺采访了密歇根州的年轻男性选民，探讨了推动这一转变的议题。密歇根州正在进行一场至关重要的参议院选举。

2024年，经济困境和疫情造成的持续不满加剧了年轻男性的失望情绪。他们对公共机构及其领导者——老一辈人的信任度下降。特朗普及其竞选团队利用了这种焦虑情绪。

在特朗普的指示下，共和党人批准了一项新的纲领，承诺为年轻人“重燃美国梦”。他竞选时承诺“迅速降低所有物价”，宣称“年轻人将能够再次买房”，并坚称他不会再让一代年轻人卷入海外战争。

特朗普通过一个快速发展的男性网络影响者生态系统强化了这一信息——这些影响者包括喜剧演员、职业运动员、播客主持人和恶作剧者——他们的政治观点反映了年轻观众的失望情绪。

但导致年轻人接受特朗普的那些因素并未改善，在某些方面甚至有所恶化。首次购房者的平均年龄已跃升至40岁，而近六成25岁以下的成年人仍与父母同住。与特朗普上任时相比，如今的年轻人就业率有所下降，而且越来越多的就业者表示，他们需要兼职才能维持生计。目前，已有21名美国军人因特朗普发动的伊朗战争而丧生，另有数百人受伤。

特朗普为保住他们的支持所做的努力——在白宫草坪上举办UFC比赛、定期出席体育赛事以及在大学和职业橄榄球比赛期间投放大量广告——似乎并没有起到作用。

一位与白宫关系密切的共和党人士表示：“我们这边的孩子们士气低落。掩盖残酷的真相毫无意义。”

与此同时，一些曾帮助特朗普接触年轻男性的意见领袖也开始心生疑虑。知名播客主持人乔·罗根批评特朗普发动伊朗战争，而其他一些人士则对民主党表现出更大的开放态度，甚至彻底退出了政治舞台。

但兰辛市美国汽车工人联合会602分会主席以赛亚·富勒并不认为年轻人正在大规模地抛弃特朗普。他说，他的年轻会员们越来越公开地反对工会的支持，而且他们仍然对特朗普的滑稽举动感到好笑，即便这些举动与工会的优先事项相冲突。

“他们得以通过一个自认为高人一等的人来实现自己最狂野的梦想，”富勒说。“我们有很多年轻员工，他们的观点与我们公司不同，所以他们不明白自己这样做是在搬起石头砸自己的脚。”

密歇根州立大学职业服务网络主任卡琳·汉森表示，该校学生应对不确定性的方式已经发生了转变。与她以往看到的几代学生选择退缩不同，现在的学生们正在适应“没有人能拯救我们”的现实。

“他们不会停工，”她说。“而且他们对A、B、C、D方案都非常开放。”

对于21岁的约瑟夫·伯克来说，他的备选方案是一次惊人的职业转变：成为一名神父。伯克是一名数据科学和生物化学专业的大四学生。展望人工智能的崛起和高不可攀的房价，神学院开始对他产生了吸引力。

“我只是想找一些有安全保障的东西，”伯克说。

兰辛社区学院18岁的学生马修·霍兰德表示，如果人工智能继续扼杀他曾经憧憬的网页设计职业，他还没有备选方案。但他知道谁不会保护劳动者的权益：特朗普政府。

他说：“他们正在竭尽所能地利用人工智能来攫取利润，用人工智能取代劳动力。”

密歇根州立大学共和党学生会主席安东·格加伊表示，他认为当前的经济焦虑被夸大了，而且这种焦虑在大多数世代中都很常见。他指出，特朗普对H1B签证征收10万美元的新费用，旨在鼓励企业雇用美国工人而非外国工人，这是朝着为年轻人创造更多机会迈出的一步。

“当特朗普把注意力集中在这一点上时，那真是太好了，”格加伊说。

但他承认，当军方对伊朗采取行动、汽油价格飙升时，特朗普失去了校园里很多同龄人的支持。

“这真的只是伊朗战争的问题，”格加伊说，“如果战争很快结束，年轻人就会回到他身边。”

随着年轻人对特朗普逐渐失去好感，埃尔-赛义德试图将大学生作为他在民主党参议院初选中的关键支持者，他在密歇根州各地的大学校园里举办集会，场场爆满。

今年四月，他与哈桑·皮克一同出现在密歇根州立大学。哈桑·皮克是一位拥有数百万网络粉丝的进步派网红，他对以色列的批评引发了反犹主义的指责。此次活动吸引了众多关注，数百名学生到场，其中许多是年轻男性。

朱莉娅·德马雷·尼金森/美联社

“这引发了很多争议，但我从未见过这么多年轻人同时联系我们，他们都说这太酷了，”密歇根州立大学民主党学生会主席阿斯塔·辛格说道，该学生会协助组织了这次活动。“我觉得尤其是在我们俱乐部，你能明显感受到这是一个巨大的转变。”

主修建筑管理的克里斯蒂称赞埃尔-赛义德关注年轻人的基本需求。兰辛社区学院的学生朱贝克表示，埃尔-赛义德的网络影响力堪比他所见过的“让美国再次伟大”（MAGA）运动的网红，他希望更多民主党人能效仿。例如，埃尔-赛义德曾发布自己的健身视频，以此来展现他对男子气概的独特诠释，并与特朗普的虚张声势形成鲜明对比。

“我经常在TikTok上看到白宫发布的内容，以及那些涉及特朗普的AI生成内容，我觉得这非常不成熟，”他说。“同时，我认为民主党应对这种情况的方式也不正确。”

但反对特朗普的密歇根州立大学新生西蒙·贾斯汀表示，他对社会主义候选人和政策在年轻进步人士中日益增长的吸引力感到担忧。他担心大学学位过于昂贵，无法为他们这一代人提供以往那样的机会，但他仍然坚信资本主义是最佳的发展道路。

“我不是社会主义者。我不认为社会主义行得通。我认为那本质上会把美国引向暴政，”他说。

共和党参议员候选人迈克·罗杰斯多次批评埃尔-赛义德与皮克一同露面。但这位前国会议员的竞选团队私下也承认，要争取越来越被皮克这类人物以及蓬勃发展的民主社会主义运动所吸引的年轻选民，难度很大。

一些保守派人士对Z世代的经济担忧回应称，他们懒惰且自以为是。一位大学生抱怨一个20美元的墨西哥卷饼价格过高，引发了一场激烈的网络辩论，甚至连副总统JD Vance都亲自出面为年轻人辩护。

比尔·普利亚诺/盖蒂图片社

罗杰斯并未加入党内对年轻男性日益增多的批评行列，反而近几个月来加大了与选民的接触力度。他出现在大学橄榄球赛前的聚会上，同时他的竞选团队还向安娜堡投放了一块移动广告牌，抨击埃尔-赛义德过去对橄榄球的批评。广告牌上写着：“阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德认为你们的全国冠军是种族主义的、有害的。”（而埃尔-赛义德则吹嘘自己高中时期的橄榄球经历，并指责罗杰斯“缺乏男子气概”。）

本周末，来自全国各地的大学共和党人将齐聚密歇根州，挨家挨户进行敲门拜访。

“不幸的是，他们在校园里做得很好，”罗杰斯在最近的一次竞选活动中说。“这有点吓人，但我们正在努力解决这个问题。”