Trump voter regret is clearly registering now
By: Aaron Blake (CNN)
Republicans need not worry. The Democratic Party will pull a Pelosi/Schumer 'throw shade' stunt instead of presenting themselves as an alternative.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
As President Donald Trump’s poll numbers have hit new lows amid the Iran war, there’s now the firmest evidence yet of a long-anticipated dynamic: the regretful Trump voter.
While a fair number of Trump voters have had reservations for a while, a series of polls in recent weeks shows those reservations are starting to tip over into something more serious.
A YouGov poll from the University of Massachusetts Amherst — a survey we’ve spotlighted before on this issue — is the hardest evidence.
Rather than ask a straight question about whether people regret their votes, the poll offers a sliding scale of more-nuanced options, including “some concerns,” “mixed feelings” and “some regrets,” rather than just full-on regret.
In April 2025, 74% of Trump voters scorned any of those options and said they were “very confident” in their vote. But today, that number has declined to 62%.
The 38% of Trump voters who chose a less-resolute option was double the 19% of Kamala Harris voters who did the same.
Another 21% of Trump voters said they were still “confident” in their votes but had “some concerns.”
And the percentage who declined to express confidence in their vote — and said they at least had “mixed feelings” — has gone from 8% in April 2025 to 17% today.
Just 5% said they regret their vote and would vote differently if they could. But that appears to actually undersell the level of regret.
When given a chance to recast their 2024 votes, in fact, just 84% of Trump voters said they would vote for him again — compared to 91% for Harris voters.
So while some might prefer to not call it “regret,” 16% would apparently do things differently with hindsight.
A Strength in Numbers-Verasight poll from around the same time fills out the regretful picture.
It found 13% of Trump voters said they either “strongly” (5%) or “somewhat” (8%) regret their vote — double the number for Harris voters.
Regret was particularly high among Trump voters under 30 years old (17%) and Hispanics (16%).
The percentage of Trump voters expressing regret is not only double the percentage for Harris voters; it’s also double the 6-7% of Trump voters who said the same in polling last April and October from the Washington Post and Ipsos.
Just to underscore, these surveys suggest between 1 in 8 and 1 in 6 Trump voters express some measure of regret for their 2024 votes. Were those percentages to desert the GOP in the 2026 midterm elections, it would almost undoubtedly be a wave election for Democrats.
And this is hardly the only proof of Trump’s base softening on him. While there has been plenty of talk about how self-described MAGA supporters back the Iran war, it’s clear lots of voters in Trump’s base don’t.
And a CNN poll this week showed a real softness on that issue and plenty of others.
Here are the percentages of 2024 Trump voters who disapproved of him in each of these areas:
- Overall: 22%
- Immigration: 15%
- Foreign affairs: 25%
- Iran: 28%
- Economy: 30%
- Inflation: 39%
- Gas prices: 45%
Those are large chunks of Trump’s voter base who disapprove of him on some of the central issues of the day — and some of the central issues he campaigned on. At this point, whether those voters technically subscribe to the word “regret” is kind of beside the point.
And in case it wasn’t clear how much Trump’s base has soured on him, consider this nugget from CNN’s poll:
“Working-class White voters” has become shorthand for the kind of voter Trump has locked down to great political effect. And 63% approved of him in a February 2025 CNN poll.
His approval rating among them in the new CNN poll? Just 49%.
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Democrats always run this kind of campaign:
One can only hope this is happening. The polls suggest it is. But partisanship is an extremely powerful force that can result in a continued pattern of irrational, irresponsible, and unpatriotic support for a bumbling demagogue.
Which why Democrats always blow it. Democrats will run on MAGA, MAGA, MAGA, MAGA instead of being an alternative. Democrats are going to give Donald Trump more face time than he could buy from the media. Democrats will run campaigns trying to convince Republicans to not vote.
It'll be another Trump against Trump election. Apparently Democrats know they are worthless because they don't present an alternative.
I suspect it does not matter for the midterms. Voters are going to be voting against Trump, not for the Ds.
Plus I suspect a large number of Trump supporters are not nearly as pumped up and ready to vote now as they were in 2024.
One can only hope.