One month into Trump's second term, many feel buyer's remorse
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
By Steve Benen
I recently spoke to a Capitol Hill source who said keeping up with Donald Trump's second term is like running a marathon at a sprinter's pace. It was a good line, but it was also true.
Marathon runners can take their time, knowing that the race is long and requires pacing. Sprinters don't have the luxury of time, so they have no choice but to give it their all the moment the race begins, unconcerned about fatigue that might set in over a longer distance.
Exactly one month into the Republican's term, as Trump goes about remaking the presidency, the nation and even the nature of American democracy, those dealing with his efforts must be both marathon runners and sprinters simultaneously, planning for both a long race and the immediate effects of a White House pursuing radical, fast and potentially dangerous changes.
There's little point in trying to present a comprehensive chronicle of the past month; it would be far too long for a single blog post. That said, the developments are likely familiar to Americans who keep up on current events. The scandalous pardons. The hostility toward the rule of law. The corruption. The power grabs. The incompetence. The damaging policies and personnel. The international incidents. The revenge tour. The callousness. The billionaires. The rapid dismantling of the federal government. The pettiness, the trivialities, the finger-pointing and the overt references to an authoritarian vision for the nation's future.
As we pause at the one-month mark to take stock, the question isn't whether Trump is engaging in maximalist radicalism. The question is whether it's working.
As a policy matter, it will take time before a reliable answer comes into focus. After one month, for example, the public does not yet know how much of the White House's agenda, if any, will pass legal muster in the courts, or what the practical effects of the administration's goals will be.
But as a political matter, Americans wondering whether they're the only ones recoiling in fear and disgust from the events of the last month, desperate to know whether there are voters feeling buyer's remorse, can take some solace in the latest evidence.
The Wall Street Journal published a report this week on a variety of Trump voters who watched recent events and are left with feelings of regret.
"When we said safer borders, I thought he was thinking 'Let's stop the drugs from coming into the country,' " [a Trump voter in Nebraska] said. "I didn't know he was going to start raiding places." She said she didn't believe he would actually follow through on some of the more hard-line policies he touted during the campaign. "Now I'm like: 'Dang, why didn't I just pick Kamala?' " said the 49-year-old Omaha, Neb., resident, referring to the former vice president and last-minute Democratic nominee.
The same report quoted a Trump voter in Minnesota who said she considers her support for the president as the "biggest mistake of my life."
She is horrified by Trump's focus on deportations and use of Guantanamo Bay to hold migrants. She alleged that Trump has been too focused on "ridiculous" flashy moves, such as banning paper straws and renaming the Gulf of Mexico the "Gulf of America." Her daughter's occupational therapist has stopped taking new patients over fears that the practice will have its federal funding dry up.
The voter added, "I feel so stupid, guilty, regretful — embarrassed is a huge one. I am absolutely embarrassed that I voted for Trump."
Obviously, it's best not to draw sweeping conclusions from anecdotal evidence, but there's plenty of quantifiable evidence to consider, too.
- The latest national poll from the Pew Research Center found Trump "underwater," with 47% approving of the president and 51% disapproving.
- The latest national poll from Quinnipiac University pointed in a similar direction: 45% approve, 49% disapprove.
- The latest national poll from Gallup also pointed in a similar direction: 45% approve, 51% disapprove. The report on the results added, "Trump's job approval rating is 15 points below the historical average for all other elected presidents in mid-February since 1953."
- The latest national Washington Post-Ipsos poll also pointed in a similar direction: 43% approve, 48% disapprove.
- The latest national poll from CNN also pointed in a similar direction: 47% approve, 52% disapprove.
- The latest national Reuters/Ipsos poll also pointed in a similar direction: 44% approve, 51% disapprove.
(Click the above links for more information on the polls' methodologies and margins of error.)
To be sure, an approval rating in the mid-40s is not terrible, especially for a president who, in three tries, never received 50% of the vote. What's more, given that the Republican can't seek a third term, Trump might very well not care whether he enjoys public support or not.
But I emphasize this for a few reasons. First, there's the historical oddity: Since the dawn of modern polling, every other president, from both parties, has enjoyed stronger public backing than Trump. Second, there are electoral implications: The more voters disapprove of the incumbent in the Oval Office, the better the opposition party's chances in the midterm cycle.
Third, there are legislative considerations: Just as congressional Republicans would feel emboldened if Trump were riding high in the polls, reveling in his broad popularity, the inverse is true, too: GOP lawmakers, worried about their career prospects, will likely be less inclined to put their necks on the line when they see public opinion research showing the president's public support faltering.
But there's also something to be said for the public consciousness. Many have likely watched the last month and felt a combination of dread and horror. For them, I have news one month into the new Trump era: This president, more than any of his modern predecessors, has more national opponents than supporters, and given the recent trajectories, his support isn't likely to recover any time soon.
Steve Benen
Tags
Who is online
41 visitors
Contrary to the misconceptions of MAGA, Trump's approval is falling!
Per 538, which looks at all polling, his approval is .1 off it's high point since he was sworn in.
This is all projection.
Yes, Trump's approval went up, for a minute, but it is falling fast now!
Orwellian.
Over half of all Americans disapproves of Trump, already...
"Over half of all Americans disapproves of Trump, already..."
That covers a lot of territory. Source please?
This is easy to see.
Trump won by a plurality of ⅓ of the electorate.
Now that there is no Trump vs. Harris, the approval of Trump is based on Trump alone (no anti-Harris stuff).
So, for example, if I asked you if you prefer Trump over Harris you would (based on your comments) say you prefer Trump.
However, if I asked you if Trump is (in aggregate) properly doing what you believe a PotUS should do, I am not so sure you would say yes.
And then, on top of that, we have recent polls:
Given the absolutely terrible nominations of people like Hegseth and Patel, the unnecessary, counter-productive public threats to trade partners, the unnecessary tariffs, the trolling of Canada, the brain-dead stupid claims of the USA taking and rebuilding Gaza into the Riviera of the Middle East, the pointless attempt to rename the Gulf of Mexico, the illegal attempt to remove the constitutional right of jus soli, the incompetent firing and scrambled re-hiring of federal workers, the utterly stupid trashing of Zelensky when one is ostensibly trying to negotiate a complex peace deal, the firing of inspectors general, the attempts to fire all DoJ employees who were assigned to work on his criminal cases, the backing away from his primary campaign promise of lowering prices and instead taking actions (e.g. tariffs) that will actually increase prices, etc. it is wonder that anyone thinks this buffoon is doing what a PotUS should do.
I am sick of MAGA demanding links for public knowledge...
The non triggered are beyond fed up with comments being made without backup. Beyond fed up.
Comment made that can not be proven are bullshit.
Pure bullshit.
Nothing more.
I demanded nothing. I asked you very politely. You made the statement and you can not or will not back yourself up. Instead you just came back with a snarky and accusatory evasive reply.
Right....
Unfortunately in many cases matters must hit rock-bottom and the pain must be personally-realized before change occurs.
I think this is the case with Trump. Hopefully a substantial number of his supporters will acquiesce to the cold, hard reality that Trump is not only entirely unfit to hold office, but that he is causing —and will continue to cause— real damage to our nation.
www.mediaite.com /trump/new-wapo-poll-reveals-83-of-american-disapprove-of-trumps-jan-6th-pardons-for-violent-rioters/
83% Of Americans Disapprove Of Trump's Jan. 6th Pardons
Phillip Nieto 2-2 minutes 2/21/2025
New WaPo Poll Reveals 83% of American Disapprove of Trump’s Jan. 6th Pardons for Violent Rioters
Phillip Nieto Feb 21st, 2025, 12:05 pm
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
A new Washington Post -Ipsos poll released Thursday found that President Donald Trump’s least popular decision since taking office was pardoning violent January 6th rioters .
Hours after taking the oath of office, Trump signed a pardon or commutation for nearly 1,500 rioters convicted of storming the Capitol building on January 6th, 2021. Among those pardoned included criminals convicted for violent assaults on law enforcement officers.
The poll found that this decision by Trump was his most unpopular move since retaking the White House. More than 8 in 10, 0r 83%, oppose the pardons for violent criminal offenders, while 55% of Americans oppose the pardons for those rioters convicted of nonviolent crimes.
Only 14% of those surveyed in the poll agreed with Trump’s decision to pardon violent criminals and three percent had no opinion or refused to answer the poll’s question.
Overall, WaPo’s poll found that Trump’s job approval rating stands at 45% approval among U.S. adults, while 53% disapprove of the president. The poll indicates a declining net-negative rating compared to other public polling data.
According to Real Clear Politics, Trump has an average approval rating of 49.1% and a disapproval average among 47.8% of Americans. The president’s job approval numbers are higher than his previous White House term nearly eight years ago.
You been bamboozled Trump voters.
I mean, you can’t get 83% of people to agree that the Earth is a sphere.
Wow, with those poll numbers I’m sure trump has zero chance of getting re-elected.
Don’t you believe it.
They didn't see it coming because they simply fail to see how Trump thinks.
He is a very petty vindictive person and always was.
He will forever hold a grudge against his voting base because they failed to hand him a massive landslide in 2020. He barely squeaked by this time with less than 50% of the vote.
It's no wonder he jumped in fast to hand out massive pain once he was elected because he wants payback for the pain his voters caused him. He sees them as failing Trump, so here comes the payback.
His base never expected Trump to hand over so much power to Musk.
Musk doesn't care, but Trump is sitting back relishing the pain handed down to voters that still quite literally worship him.
MAGA voters in order to avoid accepting this harsh reality are blaming Musk, but Trump is laughing on the inside.
I do not believe Trump is intentionally inflicting pain on his supporters.
I think it is more basic. Trump is both stupid and uncaring. He flat out does not care about anyone else and he is too stupid to realize that he is nowhere close to the level of intelligence and knowledge he thinks he has.
All Trump wants from his base is loyalty and praise. When that starts diminishing, he will react accordingly to try to win them back.
But, again, not because he gives one shit about his base or because he is trying to treat the presidency as a solemn duty, but because he needs to be the idolized center of attention.
We are in very strange and truly disgusting times.
Polls at this point cannot be taken seriously, because no facts are presented, just anonymous opinions. It's a fact the "fixes" are working, or there wouldn't be whiny and pathetic articles like this that just rehash old and tired gripes.
Doesn't matter anyway, since Trump has another 47 months to get the job done. Since the Dems have no electable candidates on the bench or coming up, J D Vance is likely to succeed Trump for another 8 years.
It's surprising that supposedly half the population are against honesty and transparency in government and apparently support waste, fraud, and fiscal abuse, and act against their own best interests. The only ones feeling any pain are the washed up and out of touch progressives, who have lost all power and much of their sanity if some of these comments are any indication
Of course ... everything is working just fine.
Good grief man, perfectly fallacious nonsense.
The entire premise of this seed is demonstrably fallacious nonsense. Yet somehow that doesn't seem to bother the people obsessed with hating Trump. Just pure hopium they wish were reality.
Trump's approval ratings have dropped. He had the lowest inaugural approval rating of any PotUS (other than himself) since Gallup starting polling this in 1953. He has the lowest approval of any PotUS (other than himself) at this time in his term. He is 15 points below the average for this time in the term.
Always defending Trump no matter what ...
I'm defending reality. His approval rating is per 538 is 48.2. When he was was sworn in it was 48%. Your cherry picking isolated polls is just partisanship to drive a narrative your need to cling to. your hand picked poll also doesn't demonstrate any buyers remorse among Trump voters, who could be the only ones feeling buyer's remorse.
What a joke. You are denying Gallup and the Gallup to Gallup comparisons of presidents. Denying Gallup is a losing argument for you.
But worse, you are denying the reality that Trump is a national embarrassment and is making one blunder after another. So it makes good sense that his approval is dropping. One can only hope that in spite of the continuous attempts by apologists that the electorate will continue to see this buffoon for what he really is.
The joke is thinking one poll provides better data than multiple polls. All you did was cherry pick a poll and ignored all the ones that didn't.
Gallup to Gallup comparisons of presidents.
Because that it is the ultimate red herring. The issue is what been happening to Trump's polling numbers, not Trump vs other Presidents. That's a complete irrelevancy.
denying the reality that Trump is a national embarrassment and is making one blunder after another
Now the irrelevancies are really ramping up.
No, the issue is the comparison to other presidents. You are moving the goalposts.
I doubt that apologists will be able to keep spinning Trump's stupidity, power grabs, and damage to this nation. Trump seems to have no sensible restraints so he will keep screwing things up.
If you are going to make ridiculous claims like that, there's no point in a discussion. It's simply preposterous. Just read the headline.
More like a national hero and savior of our democracy. What blunders are you talking about? List them.
What power grabs and damage to the nation? You keep spouting unsupported generalities.
Brilliant rebuttal.
I gave you the Gallup comparative polls. Denying them is pointless.
How many times do I need to list them, Greg? I have listed them to you multiple times and every time you return s i l e n c e.
We have absolutely terrible nominations of people like Hegseth and Patel, the granting of blanket pardons to all Jan 6 insurrectionists, the unnecessary, counter-productive public threats to trade partners, the unnecessary tariffs, the trolling of Canada, the brain-dead stupid claims of the USA taking and rebuilding Gaza into the Riviera of the Middle East, the pointless attempt to rename the Gulf of Mexico, the illegal attempt to remove the constitutional right of jus soli, the incompetent firing and scrambled re-hiring of federal workers, the utterly stupid trashing of Zelensky when one is ostensibly trying to negotiate a complex peace deal, the firing of inspectors general, the attempts to fire all DoJ employees who were assigned to work on his criminal cases, the backing away from his primary campaign promise of lowering prices and instead taking actions (e.g. tariffs) that will actually increase prices, etc.
And most recently, the PotUS parroting Putin's talking points and illustrating that Putin has control over Trump.
Oh you are unaware of the power grabs too? Like trying to fire workers without the approval of Congress? Or trying to override the CotUS regarding jus soli? Any of this ring a bell?
How about an EO which declares that the PotUS has absolute final authority to interpret the law within the Executive branch? Do you have any idea how that is a fundamental violation of the CotUS? (Hint: the Judicial branch is the final authority on interpretation of law and the CotUS ... even on matters within the Executive branch).
But do not wait for someone on a social media forum to explain all of this obvious stuff to you ... stay informed. This is easily obtained info outside of Fox News and other Trump-friendly sources.
"Buyers' Remorse" is the PG13 version of what many US voters are feeling about how things are going in the economy, on the world stage and in the demolition rather than remodeling of government agencies and services.
If you ask people their opinion on Federal Employees they tend to have bad things to say about the ones they do not know. But, the ones they do know among their friends and family are absolutely vital...
jbb
I think your point applies pretty much to how people in general regard groups of people in general - some to a greater extent than others.
The reorganization of government departments should be based solely on functionality and purpose and not at all "on the specific people" in roles in those entities.
One of Trump's big issues is "everything is personal", everything is about Trump first and foremost.