“With President Donald Trump’s second term approaching its 100-day mark, 40% of Americans approve of how he’s handling the job – a decline of 7 percentage points from February,” PEW Research.
The big mystery is why Donald Trump is repeating the same mistakes he made in his first 100 days in office—chaotic tariff wars, illegal downsizing of congress-mandated agencies, threats of cuts to social security, Medicare and Medicaid services— that have hurt his ratings, as happened in Trump 1.0.
The answer is the continued support of his base; MAGA Republicans vs. that of all Americans, says PEW Research.
Seven-in-ten or more Republicans and Republican-leaning independents approve of:
- · Trump’s job performance (75%)
- · The administration’s cuts to government (78%)
- · Increased tariffs (70%)
- · Ending diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies in the federal government (78%)
Among Trump’s predecessors dating back to Ronald Reagan, the only other leader who did not enjoy majority approval at his 100-day mark was Bill Clinton (49% approval in April 1993), according to PEW.
Why? For starters, Trump’s supporters seem to believe that executive orders can replace laws and tariff negotiations, though such tactics don’t work well in a democracy based on laws enforced by an independent judiciary.
Whose tariff policies that are based on mostly false premises has Trump followed —e.g., calculating trade imbalances solely on goods but not service sector trades? Some blame Peter Navarro, his chief tariff advisor, while Trump has admired President William Mckinley’s use of tariffs in 1890 that enriched Robber Barons in the first Gilded Age.
But Hitler also raised import tariffs in the 1930s to shield and build Germany’s domestic manufacturing base that fueled his war machine, all in the quest for more ‘Lebensraum.’ Trump scares me when he maintains his lie that tariffs don’t cause inflation, while he talks about creating more Lebensraum by wanting to acquire Greenland, the Panama Canal, and even Canada.
There is a darker vein as well, the racial purity efforts (e.g., white supremacy) that was a mainstay of Hitler’s Nazi Party that is reflected in Trump’s attempts to purge all mention of DEI programs in both government and private (e.g., educational) institutions.
I like a Fortune Magazine report from 2017 on candidate Trump’s past negotiating tactics: “The legal actions provide clues to the leadership style the billionaire businessman would bring to bear as commander in chief. He sometimes responds to even small disputes with overwhelming legal force. He doesn’t hesitate to deploy his wealth and legal firepower against adversaries with limited resources, such as homeowners. He sometimes refuses to pay real estate brokers, lawyers and other vendors.”
Trump’s attempts to act like a strong man aren’t panning out, in other words, mainly because autocratic regimes are antithetical to strong economies, which require a citizenry that has the freedom to innovate. It’s the same reason Americans don’t like Putin, China’s Xi, or dictators in general.
Polls show there are still Americans that would rather have an autocrat such as Trump to make decisions for them. But the price they pay is living in mostly Republican-controlled red states where living standards are much lower.
It’s a lesson Americans have had to learn more than once—that knowing truth from fiction, making one’s own decisions rather than following opinions of the herd, or cult figures, is the world most Americans prefer to live and prosper in.
Harlan Green © 2025
Follow Harlan Green on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarlanGreen
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