Americans Show Growing Regret Over Trump's Second Term as Approval Ratings Plummet
Nine months before voters are set to deliver their verdict on Donald Trump's second presidential term, evidence suggests Americans are experiencing significant buyer's remorse regarding his return to the White House. Multiple polls indicate a dramatic shift in public sentiment, with Trump's approval ratings reaching historic lows that place him at the bottom of presidential performance measurements spanning eight decades.
Historic Low Approval Ratings
The Gallup organization has revealed that the 47th president now holds the lowest average approval rating in 80 years of presidential measurements. This places Trump beneath 14 previous presidents, including Richard Nixon, who was forced from office during the Watergate scandal, and Jimmy Carter, historically viewed as a well-intentioned but ineffective leader. Perhaps most surprisingly, Trump now trails even Joe Biden in retrospective approval, despite Biden's deeply disappointing performance during his own presidency.
Three separate comparative polls examining the current president alongside his predecessor found that more Americans believe Trump is performing worse in office. This represents a monumental shift in public perception, particularly considering that Biden's underwhelming performance and catastrophic re-election campaign convinced millions of Democratic voters to abstain from voting in the previous election, thereby paving the way for Trump's return to power.
Republican Anxiety Grows Ahead of Midterms
The shifting public sentiment is causing significant concern among the 240-plus Republicans facing re-election in November. While midterm elections always present challenges for incumbents, Trump's tumultuous record and declining popularity create particular vulnerability for Republican candidates. Many within the party were aware that their leader's activities were disrupting international relations and imposing costs on everyday Americans, but fear of Trump's influence over the party base kept them silent.
Trump's stranglehold on the Republican Party placed their own political careers at risk, activating the deep instinct for self-preservation that often contradicts politicians' public declarations of duty and principle. The fact that some Republicans are now tentatively expressing criticism suggests erosion in the anxiety that the president has traditionally been able to instill within his party.
Contradictory Public Perception
Within the MAGA movement, Biden remains the dragon that Trump supposedly slew to rescue the United States from disaster. Trump himself has repeatedly returned to belittling his predecessor and his record while in office. The "Walk of Fame" installation at the White House specifically singles out Biden as "by far the worst President in American History" who "oversaw a series of unprecedented disasters that brought our Nation to the brink of destruction."
Yet if current polling trends continue, the man Trump derisively calls "Sleepy Joe" may ultimately have the last laugh in the court of public opinion. The causes of Trump's declining approval appear rooted in his own actions and policies, with voters potentially reaching their limits regarding what they're willing to accept or overlook.
Specific Incidents Contributing to Decline
Voters may have been willing to initially accept or even applaud the administration's tough immigration policies, its sometimes insulting treatment of international allies, its insistence that tariffs would be paid primarily by foreign entities, and even the transformation of the presidency into what critics call a money-making enterprise for the Trump family. However, Trump's tendency to test limits may have finally encountered boundaries that even his supporters find difficult to justify.
The array of negative polling numbers coincides with several controversial events, including the chaos in Minnesota, the killing of two American citizens by ICE agents, and widespread bipartisan disgust over a posting on Trump's Truth Social platform that depicted Barack and Michelle Obama as apes. Republican Senator Tim Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, commented on the latter incident, stating he was "praying it was fake because it's the most racist thing I've seen out of this White House," implying he had other racist events for comparison.
As the November elections approach, these shifting public sentiments create an increasingly challenging environment for Trump and his party, with retrospective approval of his predecessor now surpassing his own standing among American voters.
