Trump Approval Ratings Explained: Voters Cite Cost of Living, Expectations, and Policy Gaps

So the New York Times, now we don’t do a lot of national stuff here, but we will start doing more next week, but I saw this and I was like we have to talk about this because it’s echoing what I’ve been saying on this program for a long time about why Trump’s approval ratings are where they’re at. And look, I know there are some people that anytime I say anything remotely negative about Trump they get mad at me, I want Trump to succeed, I want Trump to succeed based on what he campaigned on, because I think a lot of those campaign promises will make our country better, and it’s frustrating to me when he doesn’t follow through on the things he campaigned on, because I think a lot of his ideas would actually make the country better.

Why Trump’s Approval Ratings Reflect Broader Voter Frustration

But he’s not, he’s either not listening or he’s listening and getting bad advice on where the public is, and this New York Times piece is fascinating. You guys can go read it when we get done here at noon today. So the New York Times, look, I know the New York Times is liberal, but I think what they did is very well done. They formed a focus group with 12 people who voted for Trump across the country, so 12 Trump voters who were either identified as Republican or independent, because that’s how Trump won the election, he won all the Republicans and then he got an overwhelming majority of the independents, so no Democrats. And what these people said in this focus group, and we’ll read you some of what they said, is exactly what I’ve been saying on this show about how the country, the non hardcore people who decide elections and decide who holds power view Trump and the Republicans. And he should totally read this, or someone should read it to him, and he should be forced to listen to it. I want Trump to succeed, I want my country to be better, Trump’s the only option right now, and he needs to listen to these people.

Focus Group Reveals How Independent Voters View Trump’s Leadership

So here is what the New York Times, how they summed up this focus group, and I’m gonna read you some of what these people said. Some participants had been hopeful in 2024, but many of them felt that Mr. Trump was the lesser of two evils, and the alternative might have been not voting at all. How many times have I told you guys this, the reason Trump’s approval ratings are so low is that they started so low. Trump’s base of people is actually about 30% of the country, it’s much lower than sort of traditional Republican or Democrat, the people who love Trump, it’s the most hardcore, ardent, loyal group of voters ever, probably in the history of American politics, including Reagan, but it’s only about a third of the country. And not once but twice, and this focus group bears this out, Trump has won because of who he ran against. Trump has been this way throughout his life, he is the luckiest son of a gun who’s ever lived. He ran against the two worst major party nominees in American history, Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris, and he was the winner because he was able to exploit their weakness. Now Trump exploited the weakness better than any other Republican would have because he brought the smoke, I’ve said this both times, Trump’s the only person who could have beaten Kamala and he’s the only person who could have beaten Hillary because he said the things that other Republicans are afraid to say. So listen to this, according to this focus group of 12 independent and Republican Trump voters, their frustration mostly came in three categories, the implementation of Mr. Trump’s immigration policies, the Iran war, and the continued high cost of living. People had praise for what Mr. Trump had done with the border, on crime, and the idea of DOGE, but many of these voters are unhappy, some depressed and upset with the direction of the country.

Cost of Living and Affordability Drive Voter Concerns

How many times have I told you guys this, it’s exactly what I’ve said, I think Trump’s done a great job with the border, phenomenal, A plus, he’s been awful on cost of living, he’s been awful on affordability, and that is the primary reason he was elected, these people are saying the same thing. Listen to one of the things John, an electrician from Illinois said, this is very interesting to me, quote, "Life is becoming more and more unaffordable, the prices of things like gasoline and food overall haven’t come down, I thought it all would just be a lot more affordable."

Expectations vs. Results: Why Political Promises Matter to Voters

Politics is a game of reasonable expectations. When you put all of your eggs in one basket or a primary basket, you have to deliver on that thing, you can fail on everything else. It’s like coaching. Ben Johnson is the Bears coach, first year with the team, last year the Bears weren’t all that good, but they somehow went 11 and 5 and made it to the second round of the playoffs. The Bears aren’t a great team, still have a lot of flaws, may even do worse this year, but because the Bears are a dumpster fire of a franchise, 11 and 5 was awesome. Then you compare that to John Harbaugh, coach of the Ravens, or Mike Tomlin, coach of the Steelers, who are playoff teams almost every year. Tomlin never had a losing record, Harbaugh had long term success, but they couldn’t win in the playoffs. One guy gets celebrated, the other guys get shown the door. Why? Because of expectations. The expectations for Trump were that he was going to get the cost of living down, the cost of food down, he was going to fix affordability. He set those expectations, and when you don’t deliver, people get upset. The same way Braun set the expectation that you were going to get money back on your property taxes, and it didn’t happen.