Multiple media outlets released polling on Monday ahead of President Donald Trump's State of the Union address, all of which had flashing red warning signs for him and the Republican Party.
CNN/SSRS released a poll finding Trump's job approval rating at just 36%. That's the lowest it's been this term, and it’s 3 percentage points lower than the 39% the poll had him at in November 2018—days before Republicans lost the House in a landslide.
But a dig into the poll finds even worse news for Trump and the GOP.
Currently, among independent voters, Trump’s approval is just 26%—the lowest it's ever been with this critical voting bloc. Trump’s approval has also fallen by 19 points among Latinos, a group that swung toward Trump and the GOP in 2024 but now appears to be reverting back to their previous voting habits.
Trump's approval has even fallen 8 points among Republican voters, 28% of whom told CNN that Trump "hasn’t paid enough attention to the most important problems." If those voters are unhappy and stay home in November's elections, it will be a bloodbath for the GOP.
CNN wasn't the only outlet to release a poll showing Trump in a world of hurt.
The Washington Post and ABC News released a joint poll, conducted by Ipsos, that found Trump's disapproval rating at 60%—the highest it's been since January 2021 after he incited the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Trump's disapproval reached that high thanks to Americans souring on his handling of the economy, tariffs and even immigration, which had been a strength for him but is now a weakness after this deportation campaign has left American citizens killed in the streets.
Trump will try to fix his standing with the American people on Tuesday when he delivers his State of the Union address.
But it's hard to see how the speech will help him.
Indeed, he seems to be in a horrific headspace after the Supreme Court struck down his idiotic and unpopular tariffs. After the ruling, he gave a batshit-crazy news conference in which he announced yet more tariffs.
President Donald Trump, shown last September.
And his rage against the Supreme Court hasn't abated since then. Over this past weekend, he increased his tariff threat, and on Monday, he fired off a screed on Truth Social, ridiculously claiming that the court gave him "far more powers and strength than I had prior to their ridiculous, dumb, and very internationally divisive ruling."
If Republicans think that Trump unilaterally upping tariffs will help them in November, they are deluded beyond repair.
There are already signs that Trump's dismal approval rating is hurting the GOP.
Democratic turnout in Texas’ primaries—the first state to hold contests this midterm cycle—is blowing Republican turnout out of the water. According to early-voting data compiled by VoteHub, 544,894 have voted in the Democratic primaries as of Sunday, compared with 440,996 people who have voted in the Republican contests.
It's a shocking role reversal in the historically red state, and it is a sign that Democratic enthusiasm could swamp the GOP this fall.
Ultimately, Trump is immensely unpopular and has shown zero signs of doing anything to change that. November is set to be ugly for him and his party—thankfully.
