Prominent Republican skewers MAGA as Trump’s approval continues death spiral

U.S. President Donald Trump arrives at Reading Regional Airport in Reading, Pennsylvania, U.S., June 23, 2026.

Amid news that President Donald Trump’s approval rating has plunged to another historic low, a prominent Republican pointed out that if “polling trends stay on course, he'll be in the 20s by late summer.”

This was the assessment of Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson, who accompanied it with a dose of snark, adding, “By the end of his term, there will be so few people who admit to being MAGA that you could put them at a table in a Waffle House.”

Wilson’s jibe comes as a new poll shows Trump’s approval at just 30 percent. As Newsweek explains, it is “the lowest level recorded in the survey's recent trend and a figure that, if reflected more broadly, would place him in territory historically associated with difficult midterm environments for incumbent presidents.” While this survey is 6 to 7 percent lower than most other national polls, “it highlights a broader trend that has emerged across multiple pollsters: more Americans disapprove than approve of the president's performance.”

What’s more, the survey looks worse when it focuses on the economy specifically, which Trump likes to tout as his greatest strength. But according to the poll, just 26 percent of voters approve of the president’s handling of the economy, while 73 percent say the economy will continue to get worse and 65 percent say it’s already in recession. As Newsweek notes, “that represents a notable deterioration from May, when 29 percent approved and 67 percent disapproved. The contrast with Trump's first term is particularly striking. In June 2018, 41 percent approved of his handling of the economy.”

If the trend holds, Trump is on a trajectory to leave office as one of the most unpopular presidents in history, and if Wilson’s forecast is right, Trump may be the most unpopular. When Trump left office in 2021, he did so with a historically low 34 percent approval, tying George W. Bush and Jimmy Carter. Only two presidents ended their terms with lower numbers: Harry S. Truman with 32 percent and Richard Nixon with 24 percent.

Another poll released Tuesday found that Trump is also wildly unpopular outside the U.S. Just 23 percent of respondents spanning 36 countries said they have confidence in Trump, while 37 percent said they have an unfavorable view of the U.S., and 50 percent said the country is not a reliable partner. As Forbes explains, “The share of respondents who see the U.S. as a reliable partner has plummeted in multiple countries since Pew last asked the question, during Biden’s term, dropping from 83 percent to 31 percent in Sweden, 83 percent to 35 percent in Canada, 62 percent to 27 percent in France and 76 percent to 59 percent in Japan.”

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