Version imprimableIn January 2025, when he took office, Trump had an approval rating of 47%, which according to a variety of polls, has now sunk to between 31% and 34%. That is, two-thirds of Americans no longer approve of him. A number of demographic groups, including some that were part of his base, have broken with Trump: young male voters, Latino voters, urban voters, and suburban, that is, more middle class and moderate Republicans. And several prominent Make America Great Again (MAGA) figures, among them congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, have publicly broken with Trump. MAGA is in disarray.
People have turned against Trump because of his failed policies. In late February 2026, Trump led the United States to join Israel in a war on Iran, and, though only Congress can declare war, Trump went ahead without congressional approval. The U.S. House voted several war powers resolutions trying to restrain the president, but the Senate did not pass them. The war, of course, brought about the blocking of the Strait of Hormuz, which led to higher gas prices. Today, according to several polls, 65% of Americans oppose the president’s handling of the war.
Trump’s tariffs are also unpopular, with polls reporting that about 63% of Americans dislike them. The tariffs have disrupted sectors of the U.S. economy and led to rising prices for consumers.
Trump has used the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency to carry out violent raids to arrest working class immigrants with jobs, families, and kids in school. These raids that have led to a number of shootings and to the deaths of both immigrants and U.S. citizens, so that today only 33% of Americans support ICE, while 60% disapprove of the agency.
Also, 83% of Americans disapproved of President Trump’s pardoning of violent criminal offenders who participated in the insurrection at the Capitol and the attempted coup in January 6, 2021.
Finally, recent polls find that between 60% and 69% of Americans say that they are "very" or “somewhat” concerned about “corruption, self-dealing or conflicts of interest” in the Trump administration. The self-dealing of Trump and his family has finally become a national scandal. “Voters are more concerned about government corruption than any other issue, including high grocery and gas prices,” according to the latest CNBC All-America Economic Survey.
We could also mention other issues that have turned people against Trump: his tax policies that benefit the rich, his firing of federal employees, his reconstruction of the White House together with his vulgar “beautification” of its interior.
With his party’s election prospects looking dim, Trump has taken some extraordinary measures, unconstitutional measures since under the Constitution the states and not the president control elections. The Department of Justice is bringing lawsuits against the states and making raids, searches and arrests, allegedly to stop non-citizen voters. And Trump has not ruled out sending ICE agents or soldiers to polling places.
If Trump doesn’t interfere in the midterm elections, he may well lose. But fearing he will intervene, last week 7 to 9 million people joined No Kings protests, and they’re prepared to defend polling places and the right to vote.
25 October 2026
