(CNN) — Republicans are starting to fret about their base’s lack of enthusiasm ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Those voters were already disproportionately less likely to vote in elections not featuring Donald Trump, and now the GOP has to contend with the president being more unpopular than ever.
And a new CNN poll drives home the problem: Large portions of Trump’s base are feeling disillusioned over more than a few of his choices lately.
Across a bevy of questions — on subjects ranging from the economy to the Iran war to Trump’s self-enrichment and efforts to makeover Washington — large percentages of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents are registering discontent. As in, often 30%, 40%, 50% or more.
Overall, the CNN poll shows 30% of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents disapprove of Trump.
That number is rather high in and of itself. But it actually might undersell the level of disillusionment on some fronts.
The big one: the economy
Without question, the most troubling numbers for Trump and the GOP concern the economy.
Not only is the economy generally voters’ biggest concern; it also features Trump’s worst numbers.
To wit, among Republicans and GOP-leaning independents in the poll:
- 64% say high gas prices have caused at least a “moderate” hardship for them
- 56% say the economy is very or somewhat poor
- 56% say Trump hasn’t gone far enough to reduce the price of everyday goods
- 56% disapprove of Trump’s performance on gas prices
- 51% say Trump doesn’t have a clear plan on gas prices
- 50% say Trump’s policies haven’t improved economic conditions (with 31% saying his policies have actually made things worse)
- 47% disapprove of Trump on inflation
That’s around half or more of what should be Trump’s own supporters that have a lot of gripes about the economy and his handling of it right now.
Iran
The numbers are slightly less grim on Iran, but still pretty grim.
Again, among Republicans and GOP-leaning independents:
- 64% think a long-term war with Iran is likely
- 45% say the toll of the war — in lives and money — hasn’t been worth it
- 45% say Trump doesn’t have a clear plan for Iran
- 40% disapprove of Trump overall on Iran
- 39% say his decisions about military action in Iran have hurt the US (versus 44% who say it has helped, with the rest being neutral)
And Trump’s trend line on Iran continues to be bad. Trump’s disapproval on Iran among these groups has increased from 30% in March to 40% today.
His priorities
The poll also shows many members of Trump’s base simply don’t like what he’s focused on — including his personal finances and projects like the White House ballroom and Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
Among these groups:
- 45% say Trump isn’t “in touch with the problems ordinary Americans face in their daily lives” — up from 34% in January
- 39% say he hasn’t paid enough attention to the country’s most important problems — up from 25% in January
- Around 3 in 10 say he’s “gone too far” in changing institutions like the Smithsonian and the Kennedy Center (which Trump put his name on before a judge removed it), remodeling the White House and other Washington landmarks and pursuing personal business interests while in the White House
- 30% say Trump doesn’t put the good of the country over his personal gain
- 26% say they’re angry or dissatisfied about the ballroom and the reflecting pool (compared to just 39% who are positive about these projects)
It would be bad enough for Trump if the economy were suboptimal and people didn’t think the things he did were working.
But these numbers — combined with the majority of Trump’s base that says he’s neglected inflation — make clear many of his backers think he’s preoccupied with things that either aren’t worth focusing on or are actively unpopular.
The malaise
When many of these questions were asked in Trump’s first months back in office, there was a palpable sense of enthusiasm with his base.
When asked to describe their feelings looking ahead to the rest of Trump’s second term, nearly nine in 10 of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents said they were “enthusiastic” or “optimistic.”
Now, that number has dropped all the way to 70%.
And 30% say they’re either “pessimistic” or “afraid.”
That 30% who have a negative outlook is pretty remarkable. Shortly after former President Barack Obama was reelected in 2012, just 8% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents said they felt pessimistic or afraid. And just before former President George W. Bush’s reelection in 2004, only 5% of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents said the same about him.
Then there’s the findings of a recent Pew Research Center poll.
That poll showed 81% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents said their midterm vote would be a vote against Trump, compared to just 44% of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents who said theirs would be a vote for Trump.
There have been signs of this kind of malaise dating back a year, when the Jeffrey Epstein saga exploded. The latest numbers suggest it’s now taken hold in large swaths of the GOP base — at a very inopportune time for the party.
The-CNN-Wire
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