Trump Leads Clinton on Top-Ranking Economic Issues

PRINCETON, N.J. -- If the race for president comes down to Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, Trump could benefit from an edge in public confidence on the issues Americans are prioritizing most this election. A slight majority of Americans choose Trump as better able to handle the economy (53%) and jobs (52%), and 50% choose him -- versus 46% who choose Clinton -- on terrorism and national security.

	High importance to vote^	Prefer Trump on issue	Prefer Clinton on issue	Advantage
	%	%	%
The economy	92	53	43	Trump +10
Employment and jobs	89	52	45	Trump +7
Terrorism and national security	87	50	46	Trump +4
Education	86	35	61	Clinton +26
Healthcare and the Affordable Care Act	83	40	56	Clinton +16
^ Percentage saying the candidates' positions on the issue will be extremely/very important issue to influencing their vote for president
Gallup, May 18-22, 2016

At the same time, the Democratic front-runner boasts commanding leads over the presumptive Republican nominee in public perceptions of who can best handle education and healthcare, with 61% and 56%, respectively, choosing Clinton over Trump on these issues. Both issues rank among the top five Americans say will influence their vote for president.

These findings come from a May 18-22 Gallup poll in which U.S. adults were first asked to rate how important each of 17 prominent national issues will be to their vote for president this year, and then to say whether Clinton or Trump would best handle each issue. As Gallup reported previously, most of the issues Americans rate as highly important are economic and national defense-related. By contrast, most of the bottom eight involve social policy, trade and the environment. (See the full list in the table at the end of the story.)

Overall, Trump leads Clinton in public perceptions of who would better handle eight of the 17 issues. Beyond his modest leads on the economy (+10) and jobs (+7), and slight edge on terrorism (+4), he leads on several lower-ranked concerns: the federal budget deficit (+18), the size and efficiency of the federal government (+14), regulation of banks and Wall Street (+11), taxes (+8) and gun policy (+5).

	High importance to vote^	Prefer Trump on issue	Prefer Clinton on issue	Advantage
	%	%	%
The economy	92	53	43	Trump +10
Employment and jobs	89	52	45	Trump +7
Terrorism and national security	87	50	46	Trump +4
The federal budget deficit	78	57	39	Trump +18
Taxes	71	52	44	Trump +8
The size and efficiency of the federal government	64	55	41	Trump +14
Gun policy	63	50	45	Trump +5
Government regulation of Wall Street and banks	59	53	42	Trump +11
^ Percentage saying the candidates' positions on the issue will be extremely/very important issue to influencing their vote for president
Gallup, May 18-22, 2016

Meanwhile, Clinton has advantages on eight other issues. However, aside from education (+26) and healthcare (+16) these tend to be lower-ranking concerns: climate change (+38), the treatment of minority groups in the U.S. (+38), social issues such as gay marriage and abortion (+33), foreign affairs (+21), income and wealth distribution (+8), and immigration (+8).

	High importance to vote^	Prefer Clinton on issue	Prefer Trump on issue	Advantage
	%	%	%
Education	86	61	35	Clinton +26
Healthcare and the Affordable Care Act	83	56	40	Clinton +16
Foreign affairs	74	59	38	Clinton +21
Immigration	69	52	44	Clinton +8
The treatment of minority groups in this country	66	67	29	Clinton +38
The distribution of income and wealth in the U.S.	65	51	43	Clinton +8
Social issues such as gay marriage and abortion	48	64	31	Clinton +33
Climate change	47	66	28	Clinton +38
^ Percentage saying the candidates' positions on the issue will be extremely/very important issue to influencing their vote for president
Gallup, May 18-22, 2016

Trade, a relatively low-ranked election issue, is the one area where the candidates are tied. Neither Clinton's foreign policy credentials nor Trump's business credentials and emphasis on trade policies in his campaign have given either candidate an advantage on the issue. Both Trump and Clinton are on record opposing the Trans-Pacific Partnership now being debated in Congress.

Trump Leads on Higher-Profile Issues, but by Slimmer Margins

On average, 75% of Americans rate the eight issues Trump leads on as extremely or very important to their vote, slightly higher than the 67% who rate the eight issues Clinton leads on this highly.

At the same time, Clinton tends to have much larger advantages on the issues on which she is favored than Trump has on the issues on which he is favored. Clinton leads on her eight issues by an average of 24 points, while Trump leads by a 10-point average on his eight. Clinton's ratings on the issues may also be somewhat suppressed to the extent supporters of Bernie Sanders are reluctant to say positive things about her while he is still actively contesting the nomination.

Bottom Line

More Americans prefer Trump than Clinton to handle the issues of utmost importance to voters this fall -- the economy in general as well as employment and jobs, specifically. More broadly, Trump's center of gravity on the issues is a little higher on the priority scale than Clinton's. On the other hand, the candidates are tied in the sheer number of issues on which each is preferred. And while Clinton tends to lead Trump by wide margins in the issues for which she is favored, Trump's leads are a bit tenuous and could more easily dwindle or disappear. Still, as of today, the issue advantage seems to go to Trump.

Survey Methods

Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted May 18-22, 2016, with a random sample of 1,530 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For results based on the total sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. All reported margins of sampling error include computed design effects for weighting.

Each sample of national adults includes a minimum quota of 60% cellphone respondents and 40% landline respondents, with additional minimum quotas by time zone within region. Landline and cellular telephone numbers are selected using random-digit-dial methods.

View complete question responses and trends.

Learn more about how the Gallup Poll Social Series works.

	Extremely/Very important to vote	Prefer Trump on issue	Prefer Clinton on issue	Candidate advantage
	%	%	%	pct. pts.
The economy	92	53	43	Trump +10
Employment and jobs	89	52	45	Trump +7
Terrorism and national security	87	50	46	Trump +4
Education	86	35	61	Clinton +26
Healthcare and the Affordable Care Act	83	40	56	Clinton +16
The federal budget deficit	78	57	39	Trump +18
Foreign affairs	74	38	59	Clinton +21
Taxes	71	52	44	Trump +8
Immigration	69	44	52	Clinton +8
The treatment of minority groups in this country	66	29	67	Clinton +38
The distribution of income and wealth in the U.S.	65	43	51	Clinton +8
The size and efficiency of the federal government	64	55	41	Trump +14
Gun policy	63	50	45	Trump +5
Trade with other nations	61	49	48	Trump +1
Government regulation of Wall Street and banks	59	53	42	Trump +11
Social issues such as gay marriage and abortion	48	31	64	Clinton +33
Climate change	47	28	66	Clinton +38
Issues ranked by % extremely/very important to vote
Gallup, May 18-22, 2016