LOS ANGELES.–Marking his first 100 days, 78-year-old President Donald Trump finds his approval ratings sinking, with about 53% polled in Decision Desk HQ saying they disapprove of Trump’s performance. Democrats and the fake news ignore the fact that former President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris left office Jan. 20 with an aggregate 36% approval rating, still nine percent lower that Trump’s 45.1% ratings, down from 50% only two months ago. Trump’s approval ratings have been battered by the economy where Wall Street saw a 15% slide from its highs last December. Democrats and fake news exploit the findings for pure politics, knowing that Trump has been a slump for the last few months. Trump tariff roll-out backfired on the president with Wall Street selling off, fearful of a possible recession down the line. Voters don’t generally like recessions.
Trump’s controversial work with billionaire Elon Musk running the Department of Government Efficiency [DOGE] has also irked voters, largely related to cuts in important government services in Social Security and in National Parks. So, whatever savings Trump found in DOGE, he hurt his approval ratings by appearing cavalier to ordinary citizens. Most citizens don’t like hearing about layoffs, whether they’re in the federal government or not. Experienced political forecaster Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia Center for politics, says that recent unfavorable polls are largely “window dressing,” when the real poll that mattered was the Nov. 5, 2024 presidential election. Sabato thinks that whatever negative polling Trump gets now doesn’t mean all that much unless in transfers into losses in the 2026 Midterm election, a year-and-half from now.
Sabato, who incorrectly forecasted Kamala Harris winning the 2024 election, thinks that current negative polling are “window dressing” because they don’t reflect what happened in 2024 or what will happen in 2026. He sees Trump has having plenty of time to redeem himself on the economy and in potential foreign policy victories. Any Ukraine peace deal would reverse Trump’s negative trend largely driven by Wall Street’s rebellion over Trump’s tariffs and DOGE cutbacks. Sabato thinks the best measure of Trump’s approval is last year’s presidential election, giving him a decisive victory against former Vice President Kamala Harris. “So, this is widow dressing in a sense,” Sabato told NewsNation. Whatever Democrats and the fake news says about Trump in doesn’t reflect the true measure of independent votes that carried Trump to victory on Nov. 5, 2024.
Trump had the same media coverage during the 2024 campaign as he has now, where the press universally condemns Trump’s performance on the economy and in foreign policy. When you think that the press backs a continuation of former President Joe Biden’s Ukraine War, it makes no sense, considering the drain on the U.S. Treasury, not to mention the destruction of Ukraine and loss of sovereign territory. You’d think the liberal press would be all in on peace talks but they’re not. U.S. press backs Biden’s proxy war with the Kremlin, something Trump has reversed since taking office. Trump has made every effort to reset U.S.-Russian relations after Biden trashed decades of diplomacy, détente and arms control, all to fund proxy war with the Kremlin. Trump’s reversal of Biden’s warmongering should be welcome relief to the U.S. press but it isn’t. U.S. press only reports on anything negative for Trump, refusing to give him any credit for anything.
Sabato said polls only matter when the White House panics, gets desperate to turn things around. “Generally, when people are alienated as a president or angry at him for some reason or another, everything tends to drop a little and sometimes more than a little,” Sabato said, regarding Trump’s current approval ratings. With so much negative reporting the fake news like the 2024 election, it didn’t matter that much to voters that saw the press as biased. Well, the same thing is happening now, where the fake news believes all its negative reporting. When it comes to the economy, Trump has a ways to go to redeem himself with Wall Street already making up about 9% of its losses. If the buying trend continues, Trump’s slide in the polls should stop pretty abruptly. Wall Street has already seen its fortunes reverse in the last five trading sessions giving reason for optimism.
Calling current polls “window dressing,” Sabato wants to remind the public that Democrats and the fake news aren’t the last word on how Trump has really done over the first 100 days. When it comes to Wall Street, five straight winning sessions has morphed a foul mood into one of cautions optimism. Trump’s recent announcement about delaying auto industry tariffs should also help turn things around. Sabato, who failed to predict the correct outcome of the 2024 election, now thinks that independents will decide Trump’s future popularity. Sabato said next year’s Midterm elections should be a good barometer of where the public sits but that’s a lifetime away from now. “The Senate is another animal entirely,” Sabato said, noting that House seats more accurately mirror the president’s approval ratings. Trump’s work on a Ukraine peace deal could turn things around.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
