WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump stormed back into office with a shock-and-awe policy blitz that expanded presidential power and reshaped America’s relations with the world. But it has come at a steep cost: as he enters the New Year and midterm elections loom, his once unshakeable hold on Republicans is slipping, say historians and analysts.
Back in January, as Trump triumphantly returned to the White House for a second term, he vowed to remake the economy, the federal bureaucracy, immigration policy and much of US cultural life. He delivered on much of that agenda, becoming one of the most powerful presidents in modern US history.
Like all US presidents who cannot seek another term, Trump faces the inevitable waning of power in his second year. But he also begins the New Year with an erosion in political support.
Some Republican lawmakers are rebelling, and opinion polls show a growing number of voters are unhappy with the high cost of living, an aggressive immigration crackdown and a sense that Trump has pushed the boundaries of presidential power too far.
Trump’s approval rating slipped to 39 percent in recent days to nearly its lowest level of his current term as Republican voters soured on his handling of the economy, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.
