Trump 'courting political disaster' after 'torrid' return to White House

Although countless polls are showing President Donald Trump with weak approval ratings, he isn't backing down from his far-right MAGA agenda. Trump is attacking those polls as "fake news," and he insists that the U.S. economy is stronger than ever.

In an article published on the second day of 2026, CNN's Stephen Collison stresses that Trump's presidency is at a crossroads in a chaotic and turbulent political environment.

"2026 will be a defining year for President Donald Trump's political standing and for the ultimate substance and legacy of his second term," Collison explains. "The new year will also unfold as a story of resistance to Trump. Democrats hope to brake his imperial presidency by winning at least one chamber of Congress in November's midterm elections. The coming months will also test how far the Constitution and centers of power like the courts, business, the media and cultural institutions can bear his strongman's zeal…. There’s no sign normalcy will return in 2026."

Collison continues, "Last month, in Pennsylvania, Trump promised the storm is far from blowing itself out. 'We have three years and two months to go. And you know what that is in Trump time? Three years and two months is called eternity.' Whether Trump enshrines many of his wins of his torrid first year back in office into American life more permanently will depend on major events in 2026."

The CNN journalist notes that if Democrats retake the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2026 midterms, it would " inflict a devastating regime of investigations on Trump in the last years of his term." And Trump, Collison says, "may already be courting a New Year political disaster."

"The expiration of enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies landed millions of voters with massive price hikes for insurance plans," Collison observes. "And his promised better health care at cheaper rates is as much a mirage now as in his first term. And Trump sends his GOP allies deeper into the mire every time he calls the affordability crisis a hoax."

Collison adds, "Trump's political fate will be tied to the economy in 2026. Any spikes in inflation or accelerating job losses could deal the GOP an impossible hand in the midterms…. The new year, however, will help define how far he is able to go in imposing irrevocable, transformational change on the nation and the world."

Read Stephen Collison's full article for CNN at this link (subscription required).