New Delhi: A survey by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace shows that most Indian-Americans in the United States view President Donald Trump’s second term negatively. At the same time, they strongly support New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, mainly because of shared political views rather than common ethnicity or religion.
The 2026 Indian American Attitudes Survey (IAAS), in partnership with the research firm YouGov, surveyed 1,000 Indian-American adults between 25 November 2025 and 6 January 2026. The aim was to understand how Indian-Americans are navigating electoral politics, policy change, and debates over identity and belonging in the US, at a moment of unusual political turmoil.
A series of unprecedented policy actions, from tariffs to sweeping immigration curbs, has pushed India-US relations into a period of heightened turbulence, placing at risk a quarter-century of steadily deepening ties between the two democracies.
At the same time, Indian-Americans have experienced a marked uptick in online hate speech and discrimination. One independent report by the Centre for the Study of Organised Hate documented a surge in anti-Indian content on X in late 2025, identifying the US as an “epicentre of anti-Indian digital racism”.
Declining support for Trump
According to the IAAS survey, most Indian-Americans disapprove of Trump’s performance on the economy, immigration, and India-US ties. While they still favour Democrats, party support has declined since 2020.
A year into Trump’s second term, the survey finds that large majorities of Indian-Americans disapprove of the president’s job performance, including his handling of the domestic economy, international economic policy, and immigration.
Evaluations of Trump’s management of India-US relations were also poor, and although many respondents reported having no opinion, it reflected the limited impact of foreign policy on electoral decision-making.
The survey found that while most Indian-Americans still identify as Democrats, the share has witnessed a dip since 2020. Even though a strong majority backed the Democratic presidential ticket in 2024, Trump gained more support in his second presidential run than he did in 2020, especially among young men.
In 2026, while support for Trump has reduced, Democratic support has not rebounded. This signals a rising dissatisfaction with both major parties. However, the survey did find that “Republican identification has increased over that period.”
Indian-Americans surveyed opened up about the “widespread perceptions of bias, frequent encounters with online racism, and marked levels of personal harassment or discrimination.”
The survey found that while racial discrimination is reshaping behaviour in the US, it is not yet prompting widespread migration. And a majority still recommend the US for employment.
Amid this turmoil, Mamdani has had a positive impact. Indian-Americans express substantial enthusiasm for Mamdani, driven primarily by ideological concerns and not race or ethnicity.
In contrast, Vice President JD Vance’s public comments about religion and marriage drew strong negative reactions. Many Indian-Americans felt it raised concerns about religion, representation, and a sense of belonging, the survey revealed.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)