Poll: Trump leads Republican field, DeSantis the second choice

Trump was the top choice for 60% of Republicans surveyed, followed by DeSantis at 11%, Haley (10%), biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy (6%) and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at 3%.

The former president's lead is even wider on the most important issue for voters. Nearly two-thirds of Republicans (64%) think Trump is the best candidate for the economy versus 8% who feel the same way about DeSantis and 7.5% who prefer Haley.

On U.S. foreign policy, Trump also held a sizeable lead, with the majority — 61% — of GOP respondents backing him over Haley who had 13% of the support and DeSantis at 8%.

"The clear takeaway here is that Trump's support is not only very broad but very deep," said NewsNation's political and economic contributor Mick Mulvaney, who previously served as acting White House chief of staff in the Trump administration.

The findings suggest even those who aren't voting for the former president think he's better on several important issues, Mulvaney pointed out.

Although Haley topped DeSantis on foreign policy, the poll showed the Florida governor is still the most popular candidate behind Trump.

Just over a third of GOP respondents (36%) chose DeSantis as their second choice followed by Ramaswamy with 15% support and then Haley at 14%.

"This is the traditional wing of the party versus the populist wing of the party, and it looks like the populist wing is dramatically larger," said Mulvaney.

That will be a concern for Haley, who has gained momentum in recent weeks running as a more traditional conservative. Some polls have shown her outperforming Trump and DeSantis in a general election against President Joe Biden.

But the latest NewsNation/Decision Desk HQ survey suggests a consolidated field without DeSantis and Ramaswamy may benefit Trump more than the former U.N. ambassador.

At this point, a criminal conviction against Trump would do little to change that, the poll found.

More than 70% of GOP respondents said a conviction in "one or more" of the former president's criminal cases would not impact their vote. Roughly 17% said it would affect their vote and 10% were not sure.

"It will be interesting to see what happens to that number over the next three or four months as the court cases actually make it to the trial stage and more comes out or doesn't come out," said Scott Tranter, director of data science at Decision Desk HQ.

Trump's legal troubles may not impact his expected success in the Republican primaries but could be troublesome for the former president in the general election, the NewsNation/Decision Desk HQ poll suggests. More than one-third of independents surveyed said a conviction would impact their vote, compared to 52% who said it wouldn't.

It remains to be seen whether Trump's legal woes will supersede Americans' broader discontent with the way things are going. Nearly 70% of respondents think the country is on the wrong track, including 88% of Republicans, 73% of independents, and 45% of Democrats.

Half of those surveyed said they are worse off financially than they were a year ago, with 20% reporting they were better off and about 30% who felt no difference in a year.

If Republicans were to take power in both chambers of Congress and the White House, most GOP respondents — 52% — said securing the U.S. border should be their top priority. Thirty percent said decreasing spending to keep inflation in check was the most important issue and 8% said "cracking down on crime," should be top priority.

The survey was conducted between Nov. 26-27 and 3,200 U.S. registered voters were polled. The GOP subsample comprised 1,090 registered self-identified Republican voters nationwide.