GOP strategist warns 'bottom is dropping out' as Trump faces 'wipeout'

U.S. President Donald Trump walks after exiting Air Force One in Morristown, New Jersey, U.S., September 4, 2026. REUTERS/Eric Lee

President Donald Trump is now in the final phase of his midterm campaign, even as his approval rating drops and Republican strategists grow more worried about the party losing ground in both houses of Congress.

Matthew Bartlett, a Republican strategist who was in the first Trump administration before leaving following the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, stated to The Atlantic that Trump has given GOP candidates “no results to point to, no agenda to promise either.” Bartlett said many Republicans now believe “the bottom is dropping out and a wipeout could be coming.” He added: “Many recent elections have broken late, and hard, and often in one direction only. Among Republicans there is little hope that things get better before Election Day, but grave concern they may get worse.”

The warning comes as Trump's approval rating has dropped to 37 percent, according to a new Wall Street Journal poll, making it the lowest level recorded by that poll for an incumbent president facing a midterm election since 1990. In a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted last month, the president also hit a record low of just 32 percent.

The Republicans also have competitive Senate races in states that were thought to be much safer for the party at the beginning of this year. Trump is set to campaign in Ohio, where the Republican senator Jon Husted is running against the former Democratic senator Sherrod Brown. Races are also underway in Iowa, Texas, Alaska, Kansas and possibly Nebraska among the seats that the Republicans hold.

Trump will start his campaign activity in October with a series of appearances in Oklahoma and Alabama before going to Ohio despite the fact that neither state has a Senate race that is particularly close.

The White House has dismissed the idea that Trump has become a drag on the Republican candidates. Davis Ingle, who is a spokesperson for the White House, told The Atlantic that President Trump is the clear leader, the best communicator and the unmatched motivator of the Republican Party and that he is determined to keep Republican majorities in Congress.

The republicans have also demonstrated a tendency to be moving away from Trump on matters such as immigration enforcement and the ongoing conflict in Iran. Some republicans have criticized the administration for using taxpayer money for what critics have called an effective Trump campaign advertisement, and some aides in his inner circle have reportedly called the ads illegal.

Trump has continued promoting various proposals and initiatives, including those related to artificial intelligence, and has promised $5,000 payments to each adult citizen if Republicans stay in power in November. However, since early voting has already started in a number of states, Republican strategists quoted by The Atlantic state that the party does not have much time remaining to alter the political situation before Election Day.

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