Confidence in Democrats bottoms out

Donald Trump has been coming under serious scrutiny over his tariff plans, which have crashed the market and threatened inflation and a recession.  

One would think Dems would be able to take advantage of this, but that is far from what is happening right now.  

Trump Immigration Approval Rating Taking a Hit 

Initially, Donald Trump’s immigration approval rating was carrying his presidency, but the Garcia scandal has started to impact the rating, as the media and Democrats are making it sound like Trump randomly scooped someone up and threw them out of the country. 

In the most recent April Echelon Insights survey, Trump was down to a +10 on immigration, down from a +18 score about six weeks ago.  

Pollster Kristen Soltis Anderson, a founding partner at Echelon, explained, "Donald Trump's core strength in the polls over the last decade has been his strength on the economy. The fact that his job approval has softened on this is a potential red flag.  

“If you look at Trump voters, the intensity of their approval for Trump's economic moves is much lower than for immigration. A significant number of Trump's own supporters are showing some hesitance around his latest moves on tariffs." 

Trump Economy Approval Rating Plunges 

Trump made a lot of promises on the economy, but the tariff war has created some challenges for him on that front. Not surprisingly, his approval rating is also taking a hit.  

The latest CNBC survey has Trump at -12, considerably down from the -3.1 he had in early April.  

Jay Campbell, partner with Hart Associates, a Democratic pollster, stated, "Donald Trump was reelected specifically to improve the economy, and so far, people are not liking what they're seeing." 

Thomas Gift, an associate professor of political science and director of the Centre on U.S. Politics at University College London, added, "Trump hasn't earned himself many supporters with his handling of the tariff situation. It's not only the policy that seems to irk voters, but also the apparent lack of strategy, the impulsive decision-making, and the inconsistent messaging from the White House.” 

Democrat Confidence Crashing 

I brought those Trump polls up because this approval ratings should be helping Democrats, but that is not happening right now. Instead, confidence in the Democrat Party is crashing faster than the decline in Trump’s approval ratings.  

The most recent Gallup poll from early April had the approval rating for the party at an all-time low of only 34%. 

Gallup explained, “Democratic congressional leaders’ rating among their own party faithful has fallen 41 points since last year to their lowest point ever. The previous low for Democratic congressional leaders among Democrats was 60%, recorded in 2005. For their part, Republicans’ confidence in their own party’s congressional leaders has never fallen below 42%.”   

This is devastating for the Democrat Party, as they should have been able to pounce on these missteps, but they also find themselves in a downward spiral that could give the GOP a shot at holding the House and Senate in 2026, which would be devastating for Dems and give a huge cushion for Trump to get his full agenda in place and turn it over to a successor.