Nothing Trump Is Doing Is Popular Right Now.

America is rejecting the Trump agenda.

Donald Trump won a second term for a lot of reasons, but the biggest one was that voters felt like he’d correctly identified problems Democrats were pretending didn’t exist.

I’ve said it a thousand times, but voters did not believe that the economy was “strong as hell,” as former President Joe Biden insisted, or that there was no border crisis, or that crime was down.

They gave Trump their vote because he promised to be laser focused on those three areas – he and he alone would give the people what they wanted.

Welp, we’re about six months in and the people don’t want it anymore.

To be clear, I’m not talking about MAGA (though they’re certainly divided on Trump’s foreign policy at the moment). I’m talking about a majority of American voters, which includes people who voted for Trump in 2024.

If Trump had a mandate coming in – and a full swing-state smash is pretty much a mandate – he’s squandering it in real time.

A slew of polls show that even on Trump’s signature issues, the issues he beat the Democrats on, voters do not approve.

THE ECONOMY

Trump’s had two signature economic initiatives since taking over, and a new Quinnipiac poll reveals he’s failing with the public on both.

Trump’s trade war has produced very few actual deals, and that may just be fine with the American public. The poll finds that 57% of registered voters said they disapproved of the way Trump is handling trade, versus just 38% who approve.

On his budget – Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill,” – voters are equally unimpressed.

Quinnipiac found that 53% of voters oppose the budget bill, while only 27% approve.

Another poll from The Economist/YouGov found that Trump’s approval on inflation and prices has eroded from a high of 45% in January to just 35% now.

IMMIGRATION

Another issue on which Trump regularly beats Democrats is immigration. The Biden administration policy of open borders hugely hurt him and Democrats with voters, and Trump happily pounced.

But even though a majority of voters agree with him that illegal immigration has to be curbed, the way he’s handling it isn’t what they want.

Among registered voters, 56% disapprove of the way he’s handling deportations. Only 40% approve. Importantly, among independents, 57% disapprove, per Quinnipiac.

Another poll, from Reuters/Ipsos, found 44% approve of his immigration policy, while 49% disapprove.

IRAN

Involving America in an all-out war between Israel and Iran may not have been on the ballot in 2024, but definitely part of Trump’s agenda now. Trump’s increasingly bombastic rhetoric, which included a call for Iran’s “unconditional surrender,” is indicating he’s leaning toward strikes against the regime’s nuclear facilities, and maybe even toppling the Iranian government.

According to an Echelon Insights poll, just 8% of voters support the US joining Israel in military attacks on Iran. A majority, 41%, want America to stay completely out of it, while 40% supports limited involvement through diplomacy or defense.

The Washington Post, meanwhile, asked 1,000 people what they thought of the possibility of launching US airstrikes against Iran, and 45% opposed, while just 25% supported.

UNIVERSITIES

A side issue Trump’s been stoking is his war on colleges. He’s suspended interviews for foreign students, attempted to deport international students, and blocked Harvard University from enrolling international students. A majority of Americans aren’t here for that, either.

Per Quinnipiac, which asked, “Do you think international students coming to the United States to study at colleges and universities is a good thing for the United States or a bad thing for the United States, a whopping 74% said it was a good thing. Just 17% said it was a bad thing. Even a majority of Republican voters said it was good.

The nonpartisan Vanderbilt Project on Unity and American Democracy conducted a national poll revealing that 61% disapproved of the way Trump was treating colleges and universities. Sixty-one percent also opposed the US President deciding whether colleges and universities can enroll foreign students.

So to recap, on Trump’s domestic signature issues, the economy and immigration, his agenda is failing both in principle and perception. His tariff deals haven’t come. His budget is stuck in Congress. His deportations have violated the law in some cases. He’s not handling either in a way that makes most Americans feel like these problems are being solved, nor is what he IS doing popular.

On foreign policy, and a war that could define his administration for decades, for good or bad, most Americans do not want him to do what he’s been threatening to do.

And on side projects, like a war on college, DEI, vaccines and DOGE, the American public isn’t with Trump either.

It’s stunning to see such a collapse in support over such a short period of time. It’s even more stunning when you consider Trump came in promising to solve most of these problems on Day 1.

Democrats are secretly wishing midterms were being held tomorrow, and who could blame them? But there’s still a long way to go until November of 2026. If they were smart, they’d capitalize on Trump’s failures and his polling problems by offering a competing agenda that can bring voters back to the party. Instead, they’re not doing much of anything. Ugh.