With the first year of his second term drawing to a close, President Donald Trump is being confronted by multiple crises, several tied to his own administration’s policy decisions, as his domestic support approaches his post-January 6 all-time low of his first term. Yet, despite mounting criticism in polls, the nation’s 47th president is preparing to take an extended weekend at Mar-a-Lago.
With two weeks left before a possible federal government shutdown, there is no public evidence of presidential engagement in negotiations, while both the House and Senate appear to be moving slowly toward any resolution. The Senate will adjourn on Friday and not reconvene until Monday, January 26 — four days before the shutdown deadline.
Trump on Friday will jet off to Florida, where he will attend a dedication ceremony Friday afternoon, and a college football game on Monday after meeting with the Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic on Saturday.
Trump’s immigration enforcement policies, including the deployment of roughly 3,000 federal agents to Minneapolis, have coincided with declining approval ratings for both Trump and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to recent surveys.
According to a new Navigator Research poll, most Americans now view ICE negatively.
Democratic strategist Matt McDermott called the development “stunning.”
“ICE is now politically toxic,” he wrote. “Not sure a federal agency has ever become this radioactive this fast.”
According to Axios, “President Trump’s team recently reviewed private GOP polling that showed support for his immigration policies falling. The results, reflected in public surveys, bolstered internal concern about the administration’s confrontational enforcement tactics.”
But for now, Axios noted, “Trump’s policy is escalation.”
The administration has also suffered a string of losses in federal court, including Thursday’s allegation by a federal judge of “unconstitutional conspiracy” by two of Trump’s cabinet secretaries. Inflation remains steady and close to where it stood when Trump was sworn into office 361 days ago, while unemployment has increased.
At the same time, amid flu and measles outbreaks in several states across the nation, more than one million Americans have recently lost or dropped Affordable Care Act coverage, with millions more facing higher premiums and deductibles.
Abroad, President Trump’s statements calling for the annexation of Greenland — a semi-autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark — have drawn widespread condemnation from world leaders and sharply negative polling in the U.S. His administration’s operations targeting alleged Venezuelan drug-smuggling vessels have prompted accusations of potential war crimes. Most recently, Trump’s acceptance of Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado’s Nobel Peace Prize was widely mocked, including by Norwegian politicians.
As Trump’s tariffs strain relations with key allies, Canada — the United States’ second-largest trading partner — just announced a major trade agreement with China, one of America’s chief adversaries.
And a new CNN poll reported that few Americans “see Trump as making progress on some inaugural pledges.”
Nearly six in ten Americans (58 percent) say Trump’s first year in office has been a failure. Almost as many, 55 percent, say his economic policies have worsened conditions. And nearly two out of three Americans (64 percent) say Trump has not done enough to lower the cost of everyday goods.
“There’s hardly any good news in the poll for Trump or the Republican Party entering a critical midterm year, with the president’s handling of the economy looming as the defining issue in key House and Senate races,” CNN reported. “Much of the public doubts that Trump is prioritizing their interests.”
“Fewer than half say that Trump has the stamina and sharpness to serve effectively, and just 35% call him someone they’re proud to have as president.”
Despite negative public opinion, Trump on Wednesday suggested his list of accomplishments is so strong that he questioned the need for the midterms this November, telling Reuters, “when you think of it, we shouldn’t even have an election.”
