Trump in denial as midterms looks increasingly bleak for Republicans

With the United States' 2026 midterms a little over five months away, President Donald Trump's low approval ratings in poll after poll are a major source of angst for GOP strategists. Trump, however, typically dismisses those polls as "fake news," insisting that he has never been more popular. And according to journalist Simon Marks, Trump is ignoring reality as the November midterm elections draw closer.

Marks, writing in the UK-based i Paper, describes Trump's recent "I don't care about the midterms" comment as "an odd position for any American president to take, especially one whose party increasingly looks like it will be the victim of an electoral bloodbath in November."

"Trump's comment came during his latest made-for-TV Cabinet meeting at which he declared himself 'not satisfied' with the latest Iranian proposals," Marks explains in his i Paper article. "Observing that the Iranians think America's electoral calendar may be on their side, the president sought to warn the regime that their calculations are incorrect and that he is willing to 'finish them off.'"

During the Cabinet meeting, Trump denied that his war with Iran is unpopular, telling reporters that American voters "understand that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon."

"His comments again revealed the parallel universe in which he is living," Marks argues. "Over the past three weeks, he has insisted his war on Iran is 'popular' with Americans, even though as many as 64 per cent of voters tell pollsters they disapprove of his decision to begin it. He has claimed that he does not think 'even a little bit' about the financial hardships that ordinary Americans are facing due to the conflict. On Wednesday, he dismissed global concerns about the economic consequences of the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz as not being his 'primary urgency.' Instead, he even threatened to broaden the conflict."

Marks observes that Trump's "cavalier talk only appears to be emboldening the Iranians," stressing that the U.S. president — from the Iran war to the U.S. economy to the midterms — is oblivious to the realities he is up against.

"As the week heads to a close," the journalist observes in his i Paper article, "there is no indication that any kind of agreement (with Iran) is at hand — nor that Trump has damped down the concern of prominent Senate Republicans that the regime will only emerge strengthened by the conflict. But now, they have another worry: a leader who publicly claims that he 'doesn't care' about midterm elections in five months that could end the careers of scores of Republican lawmakers, delivering the House and even the Senate back into the hands of the Democrats."