'Political losers': WaPo reports almost every Trump action has triggered approval plunges
New data is being released that examines American attitudes toward President Donald Trump — and a columnist sees a glaring "warning sign" for the future of his agenda.
Aaron Blake wrote for the Washington Post on Thursday that most polls now show Trump settling into approval rates in the mid-40s.
He said that the Washington Post-Ipsos poll is showed a dramatic recent shift in opinions towards him — and it should set off alarm bells.
ALSO READ: Our allies may never forgive us. Anti-American forces, on the other hand, are giddy.
While the main approval number has dropped, Blake also pointed out that "most of his big policies are political losers." The worst numbers are related to thoughts on Trump's handling of the economy, he wrote.
Since announcing his tariffs, Trump's economic team has attempted to convince Americans that they aren't taxes — but this hasn't worked, Blake wrote.
"The CNN poll shows Americans oppose his tariffs on aluminum and steel by 15 points (49-34), while the Post-Ipsos poll shows nearly 2-to-1 opposition to his 25 percent tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada. About 7 in 10 Americans think tariffs generally increase the price of products in the United States," wrote Blake.
The indiscriminate firing of federal workers isn't going over well, either. The Post poll shows it opposed by 19 points (58-39), and 62% are against the purge of USAID, in particular.
Americans also dislike Elon Musk. By a nearly 2-to-1 margin, those polled thought his role was a "bad idea." CNN's poll shows 54-28 against Musk, while the Post shows 52-26 against. Meanwhile, 63% to 34% of Americans are worried about Musk's team having access to private information.
The most significant problem, however, concerns Americans' views on the economy. Trump is losing ground, with his worst economic numbers since 2017. The Post showed that 53% disapprove of his handling of the economy, and only 45% approve of it. The Reuters poll shows him at 39% approval on the economy. The CNN poll shows that 62% believe Trump isn't doing enough to reduce the prices of goods for Americans.
Trump has little to no support (13%) for his pardoning of violent Jan. 6 attackers. Americans are against (58%) kicking transgender people out of the military.