UPDATE: This post was written before the shooting incident at the Correspondents Dinner that ended the event. This was the third time that Donald Trump was the intended target of an assassination attempt. Will it change the way Americans are experiencing Trump’s second term? I think that it may affect it in the short term but not in the long run. Trump could have been seen as a sympathetic figure under attack but for the fact that he almost immediately viciously attacked the press and the Democrats instead of trying to have a kumbaya kind of moment. His need for retribution hurts his argument that he is blameless and a victim. Time will tell, but the American people are in pain.
Americans are feeling economic pain, and they know who is to blame: Trump and the GOP. The ship that voters had faith in is sinking a year and 4 months into Trump’s second term.
President Donald Trump has been hemorrhaging support from some of the most important groups that powered his rise to the presidency, raising fresh questions about the political fallout heading into the 2026 midterm elections, according to new polling.
Trump’s approval rating among non‑college white voters has collapsed since early 2025, flipping from strongly positive to negative, according to an average of recent national polls presented on CNN.
Trump was elected by Americans who believed he would be a good steward of the economy and that they would benefit from that. But the cost of living has gone up significantly in the first year of the second term of his administration.
Trump’s Poll Numbers are the lowest he has ever had in his two terms as president.
- Average Rating: Approx. 39% – 40%.
- AP/NORC Poll: 33% approval, 67% disapproval, marking a significant low.
- CNBC Survey: 40% approval, 58% disapproval, with a -21 net margin on the economy.
- Rasmussen Reports: 44% approval, 54% disapproval.
- Economic Disapproval: A CNBC survey noted a -21 net margin on the economy, with 39% approval, marking a 10-point drop. (In other polls he gets only 30% approval on his handling of the economy.)
- Foreign Policy: A Pew Research Center poll showed 60% of Americans disapproved of his handling of Iran.
- Domestic Policy: The AP-NORC poll highlighted low approval (23%) on addressing the cost of living.
Here are the most recent Fox poll numbers for Trump, the “news channel” that totally supports the president. These numbers show that he is losing support among Republicans as well as independents and that his character, judgement, mental condition and temperament are part of the problem voters are concerned about:
- Has sound judgment: Yes-42%, No-57%
- Has the right temperament to be president: Yes-40%, No-60%
- Has sound mental fitness: Yes-45%, No-55%
- He cares about people like me: Yes-37%, No-63%
When the ship sinks, the rats jump off.
The influencers who are distancing themselves from Trump are the canaries in the coal mine.
MAGA influencers who helped Trump to get elected understand how angry Americans are at Trump for taking from the poor and giving to the rich. They are jumping ship to save themselves as Trump loses the support of many sectors of the American electorate: especially young men and independent voters including independents who leaned Republican. The Republican party faces growing backlash as November midterm elections loom.
MAGA INFLUENCERS JUMP SHIP
… Megyn Kelly: “The American public feels like they gave Trump a year and a half, he’s done nothing other than make things worse, and they’re pissed. They don’t like the tariffs, they don’t like the war, they don’t like what’s happening in their bank accounts. They’re starting to think the Democrats might be the better option on the economy.”
- Regret and Apology (April 2026): On his podcast, Carlson stated he was “sorry” for his previous backing of Trump, saying, “I’ll be tormented by it for a long time,” following disagreements with the president’s policy choices.
- Criticism of the War in Iran: Carlson accused Trump of violating his promises by engaging in the conflict, alleging that Trump had “no plan” and that his actions, such as vulgar social media posts during Easter, were “vile on every level” and amounted to potential “war crimes” against civilians.
(By-the-way, don’t take what Tucker Carlson says without a grain of salt. He is likely planning to run for president and wants to position himself as a Magyar type of candidate (Magyar just soundly beat Orban in Hungary in a sweeping election that liberated the country)- an insider who split from the dictator and can carry out a reconstituted neo-MAGA agenda better than anyone else.)
- Critique of Iran War Policy: Von severely condemned Trump’s actions regarding the conflict in Iran, describing a March 2026 threat to wipe out Iranian civilization as “diabolical” and “insane”.
- “Compromised” Allegations: Von expressed, during an April 2026 appearance with Joe Rogan, that he felt Trump was “compromised by Israel” and the “dark government over there”.
- Scared of the Outcome: Von admitted he was “scared” of the “new world order” he felt was being created by Trump during a “Joe Rogan Experience” episode, signaling a major shift from his previously neutral or friendly stance.
- Deportation Video Controversy: In late 2025, Von expressed anger when the Department of Homeland Security used his image in a deportation video without his permission, forcing him to demand its removal and stating that his views on immigration were more nuanced than that.
Andrew Schultz, another bro podcaster who was a Trump influencer and supporter broke with Trump over the immigration tactics used in Minneapolis that resulted in the murder of ICU nurse Alex Pretti by ICE and border patrol agents.
Candace Jones, another influencer who is into conspiracy theories, split with Trump over the war in Iran, asking how is this war with Iran good for Americans? What happened to America First?!
These influencers are listening to their millions of followers and reflecting in their podcasts what they hear from The People. They see the tide turning away from Trump and are jumping on their version of life rafts- disassociating themselves from him.
COULD TRUMP APPROVALS GO LOWER?
Trump impulsively and thoughtlessly launched our country into a war in Iran without consulting with Congress or giving the American people a rationale for joining Israel in its surprise attack on Iran. Because Trump acted without gaining the support of the American people or of our closest allies, he now fully owns the bad outcome and is clearly responsible for what will happen with this war.
Iran holds the Strait of Hormuz and is functioning as a toll master. That geographic weapon that Iran has is arguably every bit as powerful as a nuclear weapon because it is devastating the global economy including the American economy. Blocking passage creates high prices of gas, helium, fertilizer and other commodities that can no longer pass safely through this narrow channel. The more Iran squeezes the Strait, the lower Trump’s approvals will go.
In addition, Iran has already laid mines in the strait which could blow up ships which means insurers will not want ships going through that strait until the mines have been cleared. They will not be sufficiently cleared without extensive minesweeping which would take at least 6 months’ time. Our country has limited ability to sweep for mines and will need the help of other countries to accomplish this.
Trump’s counter move to Iran’s new found chokehold weapon was to claim the US has shut down the Strait of Hormuz and controls it instead of Iran. That is not a solution to this problem.
Trump has also insulted Iranians in his social media posts and Iranians have been countering in their own social media campaign portraying Trump as a fool and a NOOB. Used in online gaming, tech, or new situations to label someone as unskilled, inexperienced, or sometimes, “hapless”. Iran has an active, creative social media presence and is skillfully using animated stories and imagery that goes viral to ridicule Trump and get under his very thin skin. They know he is terrified of failure and they are wickedly and intentionally poking him. That sets Trump off some more and makes him look even more ineffective and weak.
Unless Trump finds an off ramp soon, he could experience even lower approval numbers as our economy worsens and Americans blame Trump. Many are finally realizing that good character matters in a leader.
When people are not doing well they also look around for who to blame. Trump has wrecked our healthcare system, our social support system, our unity as a country, our faith in government, our faith in our election system, our ability to maintain our democracy and so much more.
Americans can’t find jobs as easily and even if that is not Trump’s fault (maybe it’s AI but maybe it’s all those DOGE cuts and the K shaped economy where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer), the fact that he has set himself up as the “unitary executive” = dictator who is fully in charge of everything, also sets him up for maximum criticism as the system fails the American people in so many ways. Unlike the pandemic, there is no easy excuse for Trump’s wreckage.
Many commentators, attorneys and historians warned voters about Trump from the beginning. I was one of them. From the moment he came down the golden escalator in Trump Tower it was clear that he was a man who would damage the country, violate the law with impunity, be all in on white supremacists, lie without compunction, and deepen the divisions in our country using wedge cultural issues for his own benefit.
WHAT COMES NEXT? FOCUS ON CORRUPTION
When people are drowning they look to see who is escaping on their fancy yachts and they deeply resent those guys.
Trump’s corruption will likely be the next big topic of conversation. Like most autocrats, Trump has engaged in extensive corrupt practices. The emoluments clause of the constitution was established to stop presidents from profiting off of the presidency. The Supreme Court, chock full of Trump’s appointees, gave him a get out of jail free card in their immunity decision. Trump 2.0 has been acting like a mob boss without even trying to hide his many violations of law.
It has become painfully clear that Trump was besties with Epstein and that he is the person behind the massive coverup of the Epstein files. What has not yet come out is that Mar-a-Lago was probably a hunting ground for Epstein’s victims and that Trump was well aware of that and did nothing to stop it. Trump also violated underage girls himself. I think that too may come out as Trump’s ship sinks and people with information lose their fear of exposing him.
Trump has openly engaged in pay to play amassing an estimated 4 billion so far in bribes and extortionate practices. His sons and some cabinet members like Howard Lutnick and others are also corrupt. Little has been said about it so far. But exposure of corruption is what brings most autocrats down in the end. Trump will be no exception. It makes sense because the people living in the country realize they have been abused by their pretend populist actually corrupt autocrat. He and his buddies are amassing fortunes while the average guy is getting poorer. The so called K shaped economy leads to anger and resentment of The People.
When it comes to Trump, he has even been creating images that will forever remind people of the fact that they were duped: the wrecked East Wing of the White House to be replaced by a huge golden ballroom that dwarfs the current White House, a massive arch, renaming the Kennedy Center in his own name, and more. What Trump thinks will be his legacy will instead become a cautionary reminder of the time when our country flirted with autocracy and got burned.
Democrats running for office are already starting to highlight the corruption of Trump’s failing presidency because they understand how powerful information about self-dealing will be for voters. Democrats will focus on the chaos, corruption and cruelty. The fact that the MAGA Republicans didn’t stop Trump and instead rubber stamped everything that Trump did that allowed this administration to wreck our country will result in their demise. They will go down with this sinking ship.
THE ALL IMPORTANT MIDTERMS
Negative partisanship will motivate voters in the midterms. But that doesn’t mean it will be an easy win for Democrats. The MAGA Republicans will engage in massive election subversion and dirty tricks and pretend otherwise. Americans will need to get to the polls in HUGE numbers to overcome the dirty tricks the Republicans are already engaged in: purging voter rolls, limiting drop boxes, making the mail-in ballots arrive late by messing with the postal service, casting doubt on the election system, having ICE and border patrol hang out near polling places and arresting people of color to create fear and more.
America needs a blue tsunami in 2026. It needs to be all hands on deck to save our democracy. If you care, jump in to help in whatever way you can: canvass, make calls, support Democracy Defenders Action (Norm Eisen) and Democracy Docket (Marc Elias) fighting in the courts for free and fair elections, serve as election judges, cure ballots.
After that, we will see who rises up as a potential presidential leader. Americans will be looking for a strong unifier who is authentic, empathic, and has the receipts to prove he is the real populist that Trump pretended to be.
When the ship sinks, the rats jump off. Watch for the next rats who jump off the ship, but don’t believe them when they say they didn’t know any better.
