America Speaks with Frank Luntz (Video)

‘Needs to be strategic’: Americans talk Trump tariffs

Tariffs have emerged as a key component of President Trump’s economic plan for the United States, with sweeping levies imposed upon Mexican, Canadian and Chinese goods shortly after the president began his second term, and with future tariffs expected on European goods. The returning president has long campaigned on tariffs, and sought to implement them to a lesser extent during his first term, as well.
But with American companies and workers at risk, the American stock market tumbling and traditional U.S. allies around the world reacting sharply, some Americans have criticized the president’s tariff policies.
Watch the above 25-minute episode of America Speaks as pollster and political analyst Dr. Frank Luntz asks Americans to share their opinions on Trump’s tariff policies, and whether they think those policies as a whole are good or bad for the future of the United States.

‘Good’ or ‘Bad’: Americans debate billionaires and taxes

For years, the American public policy debate around billionaires has revolved around questions of wealth inequality, with hardline critics arguing that billionaires should be taxed out of existence to raise living standards for all Americans and center-left leaders like former President Biden instead proposing a milder 25% “billionaire tax.” But that debate is even further divided between party lines.
Republicans have argued for lower taxes on the very wealthy and express less concern over economic inequality than Democrats do, while Democrats have argued for additional tax brackets for the wealthiest Americans and have consistently ranked economic inequality as one of their top concerns.
Recently, that debate has overlapped with concerns about the actions of one man, Elon Musk. Musk has played a definitive but controversial role in President Trump’s new administration after spending at least $277 million to help him defeat Kamala Harris in the U.S. 2024 presidential race, inadvertently recentering the debate on economic inequality and the role of money in U.S. politics around himself.
Musk’s support of other far-right parties in nations like Germany has also prompted foreign parliaments and heads of state to take action to secure their own political systems against the kind of influence that Musk now exerts in the United States.
Watch the above 22-minute episode of America Speaks as pollster and political analyst Dr. Frank Luntz asks a group of Americans to share their perceptions of U.S. billionaires, Elon Musk, tax policy, and the role of billionaires in U.S. politics and economics.

‘Division’: Americans react to Trump address to Congress

On March 4, 2025, President Donald Trump delivered a 100-minute address to Congress, drawing sharply divided reactions from Democrats and Republicans. He tackled a range of contentious issues, including immigration, economic policy and national defense.
Watch the above 37-minute episode of America Speaks as pollster and political analyst Dr. Frank Luntz asks a unique group of American voters — those who supported and opposed the president across two elections — to share their reactions to his address.

‘Overblown’: Americans debate the merits of DEI policies

Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) has emerged as a controversial subject not only in U.S. politics but also in corporate and academic debates and across American culture as a whole. An overwhelming majority of Americanssay that one’s individual life circumstances largely determine that individual’s success, as opposed to simply hard work and merit, and yet Americans across the political spectrum share an aspiration for meritocracy, even if that goal seems far away. Whether certain DEI policies move us closer towards or further away from that goal is often at the heart of these debates.
 
Watch the above 24-minute episode of America Speaks where pollster and political analyst Dr. Frank Luntzinterviews a focus group of Americans for their opinions on the culture and politics of DEI and on whether they think DEI programs have a mostly positive or negative impact on the goal of meritocracy.

‘Biased’: What Americans think of ‘mainstream media’

There’s been an increase in new independent media voices over the past few decades, amplified especially in recent years by the rise of the internet and online media. Those trends, together with increasing financial difficulties for legacy newsrooms, have contributed to the relative decline of many mainstream news outlets and to the collapse of local investigative journalism.
Added to these difficulties are wide-ranging accusations of bias, accessibility and sensationalism that news media professionals have sometimes struggled to address. More and more Americans are now gaining their news from social media or from “news influencers,” but this is not only an American trend. A United Nations study published late last year warned that roughly two-thirds of “digital content creators” around the world do not verify their information before publishing it.
Watch the above 22-minute episode of America Speaks as pollster and political analyst Dr. Frank Luntz asks Americans to share their opinions on the news media industry and where they think they should go to for their news.

‘Getting rid of them’: Americans discuss Trump and immigration

Cracking down on immigration was one of Donald Trump’s top 2024 presidential campaign promises, and he has sought to ramp up U.S. deportations and border security efforts since his return to the White House last month. Some proponents of stricter immigration systems have applauded those efforts, while critics protest that they are cruel, inhumane, unnecessary and ultimately bad for the U.S. economy.
Watch this 29-minute episode of America Speaks as pollster and political analyst Dr. Frank Luntz asks a focus group of Americans to share their opinions on immigration issues and how they think President Trump has been doing on immigration in his first month back at the Oval Office.

‘Woke’: Why some Biden 2020 voters backed Trump in 2024

Donald Trump’s surprise win in the national popular vote count in the 2024 U.S. presidential race shocked even veteran political commentators. Part of that victory certainly owed itself to poor Democratic turnout — a turnout which resembled lower 2016 numbers instead of higher 2020 numbers and which traumatized the Democratic Party establishment with its first popular vote loss in two decades.
A portion of that surprise victory, however, also came from individuals who voted for Joe Biden in 2020, but then voted instead for Trump in 2024.
Watch the above 33-minute episode of America Speaks as pollster and political analyst Dr. Frank Luntz zooms in on a group of Americans who voted for Biden in 2020 but for Trump in 2024. Dr. Luntz asks them to share their personal reasons for why they moved over to Trump, what the Democrats could do to win them back, and how they think the returning president has been doing mere weeks into his second term.

‘A promise’: Cadets describe their journeys at West Point

Many of the future officers of the United States Armed Forces begin their journeys as cadets at West Point, America’s oldest military academy and one of the top military academies in the world today. The United States military is often commended for its skill in complex organization and team-building, and students and faculty say that this culture starts early at West Point.
 
Watch the above 25-minute episode of America Speaks as pollster and political analyst Dr. Frank Luntz asks a focus group of West Point students to describe their journeys as cadets to the American public and to share the lessons they’ve learned.

‘A disturbing pick’: Americans debate Musk, Trump’s cabinet picks

Controversy has surrounded Donald Trump’s questionable selections for top cabinet positions in his upcoming second term, and around his close partnership with Elon Musk, a multibillionaire who spent at least $277 million to help Trump win reelection. Recent arguments between Musk and MAGA-affiliated U.S. Congress members, however, have revealed deep schisms within the Republican Party in the run-up to Trump’s inauguration.
 
Watch the above 39-minute episode of American Speaks as pollster and political analyst Dr. Frank Luntz asks Americans to share their opinions of Trump, Musk, Trump’s cabinet selections and Trump’s relationship with Congress.

‘Dysfunctional’: Americans share criticisms of Congress

Only about 1 in 5 Americans say they support or have an optimistic view of Congress, while 3 out of 5 say they disapprove or have a pessimistic view. While these numbers change a little over time, there are consistently more Americans who disapprove than approve.
 
Watch the above 28-minute episode of America Speaks as pollster and political analyst Dr. Frank Luntz asks Americans to share their criticisms of Congress, why they say it’s failing to deliver, and what they’d like to see change in the years ahead.