Trump: Losing energy and support

Trump nodding off in the Oval Office — Trump has reportedly dozed off repeatedly during meetings

(Image credit: Getty)

President Trump’s “brand is tanking,” said Inae Oh in Mother Jones. A Gallup survey released last week found his approval rating has “cratered to 36%, the lowest of his second term” and close to his all-time low of 34% after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Trump’s approval numbers have fallen across the board over the past month: from 91% to 84% among Republicans, 33% to 25% among independents, and 6% to 3% among Democrats. Trump can only blame himself for this collapse, said Michael Tomasky in The New Republic. Polls show that only one of his major initiatives—securing the border—enjoys broad public support. Everything else, from tariffs to mass deportations to conflict with Venezuela, is opposed by a clear majority of Americans. Trump may be able to win over Middle America on the campaign trail, but he loses their support when “governing becomes the task.”

Which is why it’s odd that Trump hasn’t held a “bombastic” campaign-style rally in months, said Jonathan Lemire in The Atlantic. Those events “provided real-time feedback”—he could see which lines and ideas got the crowd animated and which flopped. But rather than mingle with the MAGA faithful, he’s opted instead to travel abroad, golf at his clubs, and dine with “business titans and billionaires” who flatter him in exchange for favors. A growing number of Republicans fear that Trump has become a “bubble-wrapped” president, who’s too isolated to know what his voters want. Trump’s low-energy second term could simply be a result of age, said Margaret Hartmann in New York. He’s displayed “health issues typical of a 79-year-old,” from repeatedly dozing off in meetings to showing up to events with bruised hands, and lacks the vigor he possessed even a year ago. Despite receiving an MRI in October for unclear reasons, Trump insists his health is “PERFECT.” But President Joe Biden made similar claims, and we all know how that ended.

Trump increasingly resembles “a prizefighter doubled over from a gut punch,” said Chauncey DeVega in Salon. He’s “looking to the referee for help,” but even long-standing loyalists like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene are trying to “distance themselves” from their beleaguered leader. That has Democrats in a “jubilant” mood, with many declaring Trump a “lame duck” one year into his term and MAGA on the verge of splintering. But there’s a difference between popularity and power—just ask the Americans who’ve seen neighbors and family members “deported or disappeared” by Trump’s immigration enforcers. Even a low-energy, unpopular Trump “remains profoundly dangerous.”