Like his predecessors, President Donald J. Trump deployed multiple unilateral tools to achieve policy goals that reflected campaign promises or emergent priorities that were unlikely to have successful legislative solutions. Congress, courts, and the public evaluate unilateral efforts in light of their own policy preferences. Here, we explore Trump’s attempts to terminate Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and the sensitivity of the public to those actions. Our public opinion data revealed a pattern of attentiveness to policy gain or loss on DACA. We find powerful effects on presidential approval and, to a lesser extent, vote choice for the 2020 presidential election. Our matching model reveals that one’s approval of ending DACA generates an incentive for Trump to take unilateral action on that policy. Among voters with hardened policy positions, the demand for the policy outcome overrides concerns about how that outcome is achieved. Indeed, unilateralism might electorally advantage a president, at least among those voters who have strong policy commitments.
Ainsworth, S. H., Harward, B. M., & Moffett, K. W. (2024). Public Response to Trump’s Unilateral Policy Making: The Case of DACA. Congress & the Presidency, 52(1), 38–65. https://doi.org/10.1080/07343469.2024.2426085
