GOP calls Trump its ‘secret weapon’ — but polls show warning signs heading into midterms
Republican National Committee Chair Joe Gruters says that President Donald Trump is the GOP's "secret weapon" that will help the GOP "defy history" in November's midterm elections, when the party...
By Fox News · Fox News
Republican National Committee Chair Joe Gruters says that President Donald Trump is the GOP's "secret weapon" that will help the GOP "defy history" in November's midterm elections, when the party in power traditionally loses House and Senate seats. But one year into his second tour of duty in the White House, public opinion surveys suggest many Americans are souring on the president and his agenda. The president's approval rating stands at 45% in the latest Wall Street Journal poll, at 41% in Reuters/Ipsos, and an average of all the most recent national polls compiled by Real Clear Politics puts Trump's approval at 42%, with 55% giving him a thumbs down on the job he's doing. Trump started his second term in positive territory, but his approval ratings sank below water last March, and have slowly edged deeper into negative territory in the ensuing months. "Support among Republicans has remained in place, but the opposition has become even more calcified," veteran Republican pollster Daron Shaw told Fox News Digital, as he pointed to Democrats. Shaw, who helps run the Fox News Poll with Democrat Chris Anderson, said that "the approval numbers amongst Independents, I think, are what probably troubles the White House and Republican operatives across the country." "It’s true that Independents don’t turn out in particularly high levels in midterm elections, but they do vote and that’s where erosion in support of the president can cost Republicans seats not only in the House but also in some close Senate races," he warned. SURVEY SAYS: ISSUE THAT HELPED TRUMP AND REPUBLICANS IN 2024 HURT THEM NOW Deep concerns over inflation boosted Trump and Republicans to sweeping victories at the ballot box in 2024, as they won back the White House and Senate and kept their House majority. But Democrats say their decisive victories in November's 2025 elections , and their overperformances in special elections and other ballot box showdowns last year, were fueled by their laser focus o…