I originally tried to post this as a private message to a Redditor, but I ran over the 10,000 character text limit. So, here it is:
There are lots of different levels of reasoning to suggest as to why someone might vote for Trump or even go as far as supporting him (financially or otherwise). I'll try and list some of those reasons in as succinctly as I can ranked from the tippy top of the iceberg to the bottom.
1. The Economy
Most people remember life being financially better under Trump than it was under Biden/Harris. They had more money to spend, things weren't so expensive, etc. No matter what social bubble anyone lives in and whether they pay ANY attention to politics or not, they HAVE to notice when their money "suddenly" doesn't stretch as much as it used to (100%+ inflation on some commonly purchased groceries within 4 years is pretty sudden). As political analysts have said, "It's the economy, stupid".
2. Foreign Policy
An extension of the US economy is affected by everything else that's happening on the world stage. When comparing how things were under Trump vs. Biden/Harris, there were significantly more wars and never-ending conflicts under Biden/Harris. Foreign tensions between the US and Trump ended swiftly, most often through peace negotiations. The Abraham Accords is an excellent example of Trump's efforts to help establish peace throughout the rest of the world, often accomplished through economic strength rather than military might (though the presence of a strong military certainly helps deter non-US entities from attempting to make any threats against the US at the negotiating table).
3. Foreign Aid
An extension of the US economy and foreign relations are the circumstances surrounding the US border--the Southern border in particular. Whatever the motivation was, importing 25+ million illegal immigrants over the course of 4 years and paying for them to live here comfortably (covering housing, food, and other expenses) out of US tax payer funds had a fairly dramatic impact on the economy in various ways (particularly for those communities where most of the illegal immigrants moved into). Minority communities were often affected the most, since illegal immigrants had the easiest time blending in to those crowds (this may be why, in part, so many minorities swung so much more heavily toward Trump in the latest election).
4. America First
This digs into the crux of the foreign and economic policies of the Biden/Harris administration vs. what was happening under Trump. American citizens suffering under the weight of an unsustainable inflation would love to receive sufficient government aid to help them live as comfortably as they once did. But where is all that government aid going? That's right, illegal immigrants and foreign entities (Ukraine, Israel, etc). Hundreds of billion dollars vanish from tax payer funds and are never returned. Under Trump, he was willing to ask the question, "Wait, what does the US get out of this deal? Why are we throwing so much money away?" In a nutshell, Americans want their money back.
Those first four points are roughly "the tip of the iceberg". They're all things that affect US citizens directly because they affect US citizens financially. They're matters that we can't escape, no matter where we live or however affluent the average legal voter once was. "It's the economy, stupid". The following points are matters found "beneath" the surface of the water, the rest of the iceberg. Not all Trump Voters (those that like Trump and/or his policies but don't offer support for him outside of their vote) or Trump Supporters (those that give their time, effort, money, etc to Trump in some way) share all of the viewpoints that exist in the iceberg beneath the water's surface. But they exist.
5. Morals and Censorship
Identity politics, racism, and abortion seem to encapsulate the most important "moral issues" for "the Left". These moral issues have been one-sidedly championed for years (most especially at the start of the Biden/Harris administration) through every major news media outlet and form of entertainment. Anyone who voiced opposing moral opinions often quickly found themselves censored and silenced to varying degrees. The overwhelming censorship on these issues places this topic "under water" as far as the iceberg goes, despite being incredibly visible issue of discussion. Identity politics (sexual preference, gender identity, ethnicity) bleeds into racism ("white men are bad", and "anyone who supports white men are also bad") which bleeds into championing "non-white-privilege" (straight white men have been the most suppressed and oppressed "identity" in the past 4 years). Most people (especially straight white men) just want an equal playing field: everything should be based on merit, not what color your skin is or what your pronouns are or what you non-objectively identify as. The matter of abortion quickly gets deeper and darker into the iceberg, but the surface-level concern is generally "Trump voters value the life of the unborn child and believe abortion (the execution of that child) should only be considered in the events of incest, rape, or when the life of the mother is at stake". Greater restrictions on abortion means that people are less at liberty to "get away with" pursuing a promiscuous life-style without dealing with the consequences and responsibilities inherited through conception (an after-abortion survey once suggested that the main reason (~80%) for getting an abortion was "no reason").
6. Election Integrity
Democrats average around 65 million votes nationwide in every presidential election going back at least as far as 2012, with one exception. In 2020, Biden reportedly got 81 million votes. In 2024, Kamala got ~65 million. What happened to those ~15 million voters? Did they die of Covid or some Covid-related treatment? Were they real to begin with? For Trump voters and supporters alike, the memory of what happened in the wake of the 2020 election night is burned into our memories. Republicans were kicked out of polling stations, windows were boarded up so that the public couldn't see what was going on inside, videos surfaced of poll workers scanning the same batches of ballots multiple times... the list goes on. A thorough forensic audit was done of the 2020 election in Maricopa county (which took several months) which identified over 100 different ways in which fraud was committed: some of which went for Trump and republicans, but the overwhelming majority of which went toward Biden and democrats (undoing the "cheat" reveals that Trump actually won Arizona). For the 2024 election, why did Kamala only win in states that required no photo ID to vote? Why were the 25+ million illegals that were bought and paid for and imported into our country allowed (or even encouraged) to vote? The rabbit whole goes much deeper down the iceberg than this, but that should give a gist as to why Trump voters and supporters would be concerned about this.
7. Corrupt Wealth
This is actually a point that many democrats and republicans can see eye to eye on. It ties into "It's the economy, stupid" but delves into its shadier elements. Corporate lobbying, the interests of the wealthy and influential vs. the interests of the poor, etc. Generally, republicans don't want a corrupt government running the country and democrats don't want corrupt businesses running our government. They're effectively two sides of the same coin. Trump seems to have proven himself beholden to neither despite his wealth and fame, though he is certainly not without his flaws. In the minds of many, Trump seems to be the "lesser of three evils" since his past record as president seems to demonstrate a sincere desire to get government (and the corporations that influence it) out of the lives of every-day Americans. Does the 1% have an interest in "purchasing voters" (via paying for illegals to come into the country) so that they can stay in power (whether directly or through a powerful government puppet)? Do military contractors have a financial interest in keeping the world at war, lending money out to perpetuate those wars, then see that money get recycled back into the pockets of American weapon manufacturing? A lot of the interests of the 1% seem very morally bankrupt with just a little bit of digging into the "cause and effect" of things.
8. Follow the Money
This is an extension of the ideas introduced in point #7, but dive into its more sinister elements. "Big food" makes people sick so that "big pharma" can profit off it. That sort of thing. The intentional nefarious advantage taken upon US citizens for the empowerment and betterment of the wealthy. Can doctors and scientists be paid off to present data, evidence, and "proof" which supports a "corporate-first" agenda? Absolutely. Can doctors and scientists be threatened with having their licenses revoked if they dissent from the "mainstream" narrative on such matters? Absolutely. One of the reason politicians like Bernie Sanders and RFK Jr. became so popular is because they're willing to openly discuss many of these issues, though Bernie's proposed solution was "bigger government" and RFK's solution was "smaller government". Going into the 2024 election, Trump extended a hand out to RFK and offered a position within his cabinet along with permission for RFK to basically "go ham" on the entire pharmaceutical and agricultural complex. That earned a ton of votes for people that didn't care for Trump but wanted to see RFK get "revenge" on the system that's been intentionally keeping them sick. Covid and the Covid vaccines tie into this, though at a deeper level of the iceberg (particularly if the most dangerous part of Covid are the vaccines, not the virus itself). This is also where people start to learn about the "Federal Reserve" (a private bank) responsible for printing our money (which it loans to the US government with interest). Ever wonder who or what the US owes its debt to?
At this point in the iceberg, light stops permeating through the water's depths. It's getting harder to see things clearly. Most everything up till this point could be discovered (now-a-days) with relatively little effort. Even if many of those items up until this point were touted as "conspiracy theory", most of them (to varying degrees) have since proven themselves out as "conspiracy fact". Diving deeper reveals hints of things that could still (by popular view) be considered "conspiracy theory". Some theories are obviously insane, others feel uncomfortably accurate.
9. Lies Wide Open
Topics at this level are very easy to point out but difficult to prove. Operation Mockingbird. The Dancing Israelis and 9/11. Pretty much anything that the CIA is involved with (and to some extent, the FBI and other alphabet agencies as well). Ironically, the "alphabet people" could refer to either LGBTQ+ folks or those who work for some acronym government agency. Google kickstarted with government funds and is owned by a business entity called "Alphabet Inc". See how easy it is to make these connection, but difficult to prove that there's any real substance to it without falling victim to confirmation bias? Many "Flat Earthers" reach this point to varying degrees and often conclude that they literally cannot trust anyone or anything else other than their own confirmation bias. It's part of what "enables" their flat earth beliefs despite a plethora of existing evidence and logical reasoning which disproves it. Has the CIA seriously conducted physic or psychedelic experimentation to see if either could be used to some advantage? Yes, actually, and there are declassified documents and reports which prove this. Does the CIA's mentality toward "seek an advantage at any cost" eerily mimic the horrors we read about German Nazi scientists? Operation Paperclip? Are the Jews really behind all the bad things that happen in the modern world at the corporate and governmental level? Was Hitler actually on to something when he went after the Jews? This is the level of insanity that people are willing to entertain in order to find the truth. They are willing to sacrifice a sensible world view in order open themselves up to an alternate framework of understanding. Some people find enlightenment in this pursue, others depravity. At its heart, this is what freedom of speech and freedom of belief are all about, allowing people to pursue whatever "truth" they want so long as seeking it and embracing it doesn't hurt anyone else. Some very intelligent people are either so smart or so dumb that they've found a means whereby they can logically excuse themselves of every semblance wisdom, sanity, and morality.
10. Satanic Blackmail
This is the deepest, darkest part of the iceberg we can reasonably conceive of. Pizzagate? Diddy? Epstein? What mechanism do powerful elites use in order to create leverage and order amongst the lawless? Blackmail. Fear. Threat of mutual destruction. Government Black Ops, assassinations, rigged elections, etc. Secret societies. Symbolism hidden in plane sight. Satanic rituals. I use the term "satanic" here in the sense of "everything which ultimately seeks the destruction and/or enslavement of mankind". Minor-attracted persons? Human biproducts (think abortions) used as a mechanism to promote longevity (think "fountain of youth")? Slave trafficking? Sex trafficking? Organ harvesting? Spirit Cooking? Stuff gets so morally dark down at this level I wouldn't recommend anyone to explore any of it. But if any of it is actually true to any degree (see the "Sound of Freedom" movie or listen to political discussions that touch on wanting to stop slave and sex trafficking), it is absolutely worth putting a permanent end to. For many of these Trump voters and Trump supporters, he seems like the last available mechanism through which any of this can come to light and be put to an end. Every other issue that Trump can run on or take action on are entirely temporary. So much can be done and undone during every 4 year presidential election cycle. But if Trump is able to prove that all of this "Satanic Blackmail" stuff really exists AND put a permanent end to it, that's enough for many Trump voters and Trump supporters to go ALL IN.
In short, there are lots of different things that could be motivating someone to vote for Trump. Trump voters are complex, just like Biden/Harris voters. While there may be commonalities shared at various stages of "our own icebergs", every one of us is unique on "both sides of the aisle".
I don't know what sort of effect any of these words will have on you, but I did not write them with the intention to influence you in any way. I simply saw what was perhaps a sincere inquiry, and thought that your sincerity would be worth my time.
Sincerely,
~ A Trump voter.
Excellent response. A shame that most wouldn't read it. Probably took a lot of time and thought.
Excellent summary my friend.
What was the inquiry?
'what could motivate someone to vote for Trump?'
Updooted...
Good job.