U.S. President Donald Trump reacts to whole milk ceremony, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., January 14, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo
President Donald Trump may be inching toward his "lame duck" years in office, but one Republican strategist explained that it won't stop him from any irrational moves because he's operating on a YOLO philosophy, an acronym for "You Only Live Once."
Speaking to CNN on Thursday, GOP strategist Doug Heye said Trump is well aware that his polling is terrible.
"Look, he would love to be at 55 percent approval or 100 percent approval," he said. "Obviously, if everything's big and bold and beautiful. But Donald Trump, we use this term lame duck. And I don't think it really applies to Donald Trump, even though he is technically in a lame duck status. Donald Trump doesn't live in a lame duck world. He lives in a YOLO world."
Trump doesn't care about polls, Heye said. He wants to do whatever he can to use his power to control everything he can. When he can use it, he does.
Maria Cardona, Heye's Democratic counterpart on CNN, agreed, noting she's also fairly certain that Trump isn't motivated by polls or approval.
"And in fact, he might like those kinds of pictures because he is so power hungry," Cardona speculated. Those working for Trump who are political savvy, she said, likely care about approval ratings because it will impact how the second half of his second term unfolds.
What Trump is doing now, she said, is "political kryptonite" to any Republican on the ballot in 2026.
"And so, Donald Trump might not care. He might be a lame duck, and it might even be because of that that he is trying to prove that he does have all this power and trying to use the imperial presidency as much as he can before he runs out of power and before he loses Republicans in Congress. But Republicans should now be looking at this to say, this is going to be the end of my political career. If I don't get a freaking backbone and stand up to this power hungry violence that's going on on the streets," said Cardona.