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Americans are still on board with Trump’s immigration efforts —but the president’s tariff threats and wild stock market swings may be a problem

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Immigration remains a strength for President Donald Trump, but his handling of tariffs is getting more negative feedback, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

About half of U.S. adults approve of Trump’s approach to immigration, the survey shows, but only about 4 in 10 have a positive view of the way he’s handling the economy and trade negotiations.

The poll indicates that many Americans are still on board with Trump’s efforts to ramp up deportations and restrict immigration. But it also suggests that the Republican president’s threats to impose tariffs — which have been accompanied by tumbling consumer confidence and wild stock market swings — might be erasing his advantage on another issue that he made central to his winning 2024 campaign.

The economy was a drag on then-President Joe Biden, who saw the share of Americans who approved of his handling of the economy fall to a low of roughly 3 in 10 in 2023. Trump drew considerable strength in November from voters who prioritized the economy, but just before he took office in January, an AP-NORC poll found that few Americans had high confidence that he’d make progress on lowering prices in his first year.

Views of Trump’s job performance overall are more negative than positive, the survey found. About 4 in 10 U.S. adults approve of the way Trump is handling his job as president, and more than half disapprove. Negative opinions are also stronger than positive opinions — about 4 in 10 U.S. adults strongly disapprove of Trump’s job performance, while about 2 in 10 strongly approve.

Trump’s job approval is highest on immigration

More U.S. adults say they approve of Trump’s handling of immigration than his approach to the presidency as a whole.

That trend even extends to Democrats. Relatively few, about 2 in 10, say they’re on board with how Trump is approaching immigration, but that’s higher than the roughly 1 in 10 who approve of his handling of the economy and his job as a whole.

The durability of Trump’s appeal on immigration underscores that many U.S. adults support his tough approach, which he has prioritized in the first few months of his second term.

In the past few weeks, Trump’s administration has been locked in a court struggle over the deportation of Venezuelan immigrants to El Salvador under an 18th century wartime law, made moves to deport foreign students who took part in pro-Palestinian demonstrations at colleges, and attempted to suspend the nation’s refugee admissions system.

Voters who said immigration was their most important issue last November overwhelmingly favored more restrictive policies, according to AP VoteCast, a sweeping survey of more than 120,000 voters. The issue was also a higher priority for Americans heading into 2025 than it had been the previous year.

Signs of potential weakness on trade and the economy

There are warning signs for Trump in the poll, too, particularly in Americans’ assessment of his work on tariffs and the economy.

Trade negotiations with other countries is the issue on which he’s rated especially negatively, with about 6 in 10 U.S. adults saying they disapprove of his job performance. It’s a relative low point, even among Republicans. About 7 in 10 Republicans approve of Trump’s handling of trade — still relatively high, but lower than the roughly 9 in 10 who approve of his approach on immigration.

Trump’s approach on other issues — including managing the federal government, his handling of foreign conflicts, Social Security and the economy — roughly track with his overall job approval.

But even though the economy doesn’t stand out quite as starkly as trade negotiations, Trump’s relatively low rating on that issue could be a problem for him going forward.

During his first term, the economy was an issue on which Americans frequently gave Trump good marks. In October 2020, just before he lost reelection, an AP-NORC poll found that about half of U.S. adults approved of Trump’s handling of the economy, putting the rating far above his performance on race relations and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prices and economic growth were also a major motivator for the voters who sent Trump back to the White House for a second term. Trump won overwhelmingly among voters who said the economy was the most important issue facing the country, AP VoteCast found, and he was also the choice of most voters who said that inflation was the most important issue for their vote.

Now, Trump’s stewardship of the economy is being put to the test again — and the AP-NORC poll isn’t the only sign that his threats of tariffs are making everyday Americans nervous. Consumer confidence has been falling over the past few monthsTrump has argued that tariffs would bring more jobs in the auto industry to the U.S. and narrow the budget deficit, but prices on imported cars could also rise steeply if some of the costs of the taxes are passed along to consumers.

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The AP-NORC poll of 1,229 adults was conducted March 20-24, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com



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‘A Minecraft Movie’ brings in another $80.6 million to top the box office again, making it Hollywood’s biggest film of 2025

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After just two weeks in theaters, “A Minecraft Movie” is already the highest grossing Hollywood release of 2025.

The Warner Bros. videogame adaptation followed up its blockbuster opening with a second weekend of $80.6 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. Worldwide, it’s quickly surpassed $550 million.

After doubling expectations in its $300 million global debut, “A Minecraft Movie” continued to draw audiences unlike anything else this year. The film, directed by Jared Hess and starring Jack Black and Jason Momoa, slid 50% in its second go-around in U.S. and Canadian theaters — an impressive hold after such a big debut.

Though critics slammed the movie (46% “fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes) and audience scores were merely good (a “B+” CinemaScore), “A Minecraft Movie” latched on with moviegoers who have increasingly turned out in droves for big-budget videogame adaptations.

“A Minecraft Movie,” a $150 million co-production of Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment, has helped -– at least for now -– reinvigorate theaters after a dismal start to the year. Overall ticket sales were double that of the same weekend in 2024, according to Comscore. Before “A Minecraft,” box office revenues trailed last year’s by 11%, but have now virtually pulled even. (2025 grosses still trail 2019’s by 31%, according to Comscore.)

None of the weekend’s new releases — Angel Studios’ “The King of Kings,” the Walt Disney Co.’s “The Amateur,” Universal Pictures’ “Drop” or A24’s “Warfare” — came close to challenging “Minecraft,” but several films outperformed expectations.

“The King of Kings,” an animated tale of Jesus’ life aimed at Christian audiences, came in second with $19.1 million in 3,200 theaters. The film, loosely based on a children’s book by Charles Dickens, includes a starry voice cast led by Oscar Isaac, Kenneth Branagh and Uma Thurman.

With an enviable “A+” CinemaScore from audiences, “The King of Kings” is posed to capitalize in the coming week before Easter. Part three of Fathom Entertainment’s TV series, “The Chosen: Last Supper,” also looked to appeal to Christian audiences. It launched with $6.2 million from 2,296 cinemas.

“The Amateur,” a 20th Century production starring Rami Malek as a CIA cryptographer hunting down his wife’s killers, debuted with $15 million domestically, plus another $17.2 million overseas. Critics deemed the revenge thriller an awkward star vehicle for Malek, who also produced. “The Amateur” cost $60 million to make.

“Warfare,” director Alex Garland’s follow-up to 2024’s “Civil War,” opened with $8.3 million in ticket sales from 2,670 theaters. Garland co-wrote and co-directed the A24 release with Iraq War veteran Ray Mendoza, who based the film on 2006 mission he and his fellow Navy SEALs undertook during the war. “Warfare,” which cost about $20 million to make, was lauded by critics as an uncommonly realistic portrait of combat.

“Drop,” the latest thriller from Blumhouse Productions, debuted with $7.5 million from 3,085 theaters. Christopher Landon’s film stars Meghann Fahy (“The White Lotus”) as a single-mom widow on a first date (Brandon Sklenar) who’s being terrorized by an unknown person by messages to her phone. “Drop,” which premiered at SXSW, cost less than $10 million to produce.

Top 10 movies by domestic box office

With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:

1. “A Minecraft Movie,” $80.6 million.

2. “The King of Kings,” $19.1 million.

3. “The Amateur,” $15 million.

4. “Warfare,” $8.3 million.

5. “Drop,” $7.5 million.

6. “The Chosen: Last Supper (Part 3),” $6 million.

7. “A Working Man,” $3.1 million.

8. “Snow White,” $2.8 million.

9. “The Woman in the Yard,” $2.1 million.

10. “The Chosen: Last Supper (Part 2),” $932,106.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com



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Volunteer days are vital to employees’ wellbeing…and your business—this CEO explains why

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‘Making a difference together’: Dift helps partners including Accor and BNP Paribas combine social impact with emotional marketing

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Consumers value companies that create meaning, as do employees. This growing demand has created opportunities for platforms to facilitate meaningful corporate engagement through innovative solutions that give back to society.

French startup Dift is one example, with a platform that helps companies reward their clients and employees with donations that support social and environmental causes of their choice — joining the dots between marketing and impact.

Originally called Captain Cause, Dift rebranded in 2024. The new name is a contraction of the “don” (the French word for “donation”) and “gift”, which the startup hopes will become ubiquitous enough to turn into a verb.

“Our dream at Dift is for as many people as possible to discover local causes that resonate with them. Because we know that giving makes people happy,” Dift cofounder and CEO, Georges Basdevant told Fortune. “To achieve this, we have a message for all Chief Marketing Officers of visionary brands: Have you considered involving your customers in your impact initiatives?”

Basdevant may be a dreamer appealing to visionaries, but he is also a doer. So is Dift president and cofounder Frédéric Mazzella, who previously cofounded French ridesharing unicorn BlaBlaCar in 2006.

With 80 million passengers in 2023, BlaBlaCar is now one of Europe’s top scaleups (although it has no plans to IPO just yet). But the carpooling app hit plenty of bumps along the road, and only reached profitability in 2023 after a “pretty rough” pandemic.

This taught Mazzella a thing or two about navigating uncertainty, and how some fundamentals, like people’s instinct to connect and contribute, never change. That’s why he’s betting that even in tough times for companies and households, Dift’s model will find its footing.

“Crisis or not, one thing remains clear: the expectation for businesses to align profit with purpose is here to stay. This is a fundamental trend—90% of consumers expect brands to take action, according to a Oney study,” Mazzella said.

Brands are listening, too. Dift is only three years old, but has already secured major customers such as Accor, Carrefour, Engie and FDJ. This also helped it expand its reach beyond France; Accor’s loyalty program ALL, for instance, has more than 100 million members worldwide.

The use case itself is both simple and impactful: Thanks to Dift, ALL members can use their points to support causes, such as providing clean water to areas in need or helping unemployed people train for new job opportunities.

According to Accor’s Chief Loyalty & E-commerce Officer, Mehdi Hemici, the initiative has raised over 225,000 euros since its inception. “By integrating sustainability into our loyalty program, we are redefining how travel and purpose can go hand in hand.”

For companies, this also ensures that impact is not only a cost center. There is business value to be derived from emotional marketing, which can also be more efficient. “It creates a new bond between companies and their clients based on action around a shared purpose,” said Mazzella.

The trend is expanding to financial giants too: Dift distributed more than €10 million to date, and recently expanded its reach through a partnership with BNP Paribas. The bank had already introduced a mechanism to incorporate a donation component into its financial products, which Dift will now help scale.

According to Youri Siegel, Head of BNP Paribas Global Markets Sustainable Structuring, the goal of the initiative is to “encourage philanthropic engagement among both institutional and retail investors, enabling them to make a positive impact through their investments.”

Dift has impact embedded into its DNA, while being VC-compatible: In 2022, this ‘mission-driven company’ raised a €3.5 million seed round led by VC firm OneRagtime, with participation from MAIF Impact, Daphni, AFI Ventures and VNV Global. “As Patagonia shows,” said Basdevant, “nothing brings people together more than making a difference together.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com



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