U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., January 9, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
President Donald Trump's MAGA allies were furious when a series of polls conducted in late January or early February found that many registered voters are now giving Trump lower marks than former President Joe Biden. A Harvard CAPS/Harris poll found that 51 percent of voters believe Biden did a better job than Trump, while a poll by the conservative Rasmussen found that 48 percent of voters hold that view.
These polls come at a time when the 2026 midterms are drawing closer and Trump is feeling increasingly overwhelmed.
In an article published by Britain's i Paper on February 13, journalist Simon Marks stresses that Trump is "on the ropes" for a variety of reasons — from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal to his immigration policies and fatal shootings by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis.
"Whether he recognizes it or not," Marks reports, "Trump is now on the ropes, and faces a battle restoring the confidence of Republican lawmakers and grassroots MAGA supporters in the tumultuous, exhausting and sometimes brutal antics of his still-young administration."
Trump, Marks observes, is lashing out a lot, but lashing out doesn't make his administration any less overwhelmed.
"For an administration that never likes to exude a scintilla of weakness," Marks explains, "Donald Trump and his lieutenants have found themselves relentlessly on the back foot this week. Things got so bad that at one point, the White House urged supporters not to give in to panic. 'We're Winning — And We're Not Slowing Down,' an e-mail assured Republicans. 'Don't take the bait. New victories pour in daily,' it insisted."
Marks continues, "In fact, the only thing pouring in daily this week was a torrent of bad news for the White House, fueling questions about whether Trump has overplayed his hand and is now leaving his best days behind him."
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi angrily attacked Democratic lawmakers during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday, February 11. And her theatrics even drew criticism from right-wing radio host Erick Erickson, who called out her "ridiculous performance" and said "she should be fired or resign."
Erickson, Marks observes, wasn't swayed by Trump praising her performance as "fantastic."
"Bondi berated lawmakers who wanted to know why she appears to be protecting Jeffrey Epstein's alleged co-conspirators, yet failed to protect victims of the sex-trafficking financier in this month's release of sloppily redacted documents by the Department of Justice," Marks observes. "Her refusal even to glance in the direction of survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's abuses, much less apologize to them, infuriated key influencers within the President's 'Make America Great Again' (MAGA) movement."