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News & Current Events Apr 2, 2026 at 7:22 PM

Does Donald Trump’s Tanking Approval Rating Really Matter for Him?

Posted by Slate


Donald Trump’s Awful Approval Ratings Probably Don’t Matter—Except in One Crucial Way
Slate Magazine
Donald Trump’s Awful Approval Ratings Probably Don’t Matter—Except in One Crucial Way
This isn't good news for Trump—but it's terrible news for others.

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B-Z_B-S Apr 2, 2026 +43
Well, if nothing else, it's accelerating his rate of dementia from his stress. He's really self-obsessed and he's freaking out about it.
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amyts Apr 2, 2026 +10
Does stress really accelerate the progression of dementia?  I had no idea.  So letting him know that we all hate him is helping to make him dumber, faster? 
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B-Z_B-S Apr 2, 2026 +7
Okay, maybe not the dementia part, but Trump's unpopularity is making him less stable emotionally and he's doing stuff to try to distract from it. Some of that stuff is bad, like all of the wars, and some of it is good, like him firing Pam Bondi and Kristi Noem.
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Mylaptopisburningme Apr 2, 2026 +4
> like him firing Pam Bondi and Kristi Noem. You know he will put worse people in right?
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hyper-object Apr 3, 2026 +2
We're trying to run out the clock here.
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JohnNDenver Apr 2, 2026 +2
According to Google AI: Yes, chronic stress can accelerate the development and progression of dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
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B-Z_B-S Apr 2, 2026 +6
Please use Wikipedia instead. AI doesn't always tell the truth. And it's in no way a reliable source.
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MalevolentTapir Apr 2, 2026 +3
I mean Wikipedia isn't really either, particularly more rarely visited pages, unless you check the source. It might match what's in the source or have a good source more often than google AI which botches it frequently if you just follow its citations, but it's still an issue. Less than it used to be though in my experience.
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HangryHuHu Apr 2, 2026 +1
This is a classic example of ai users being spoon-fed their lives by running everything past an ai.  Now reports are coming out about how most job losses are due to ai. Just like we warned about trump and were ignored... same goes for ai.  No more looking into facts, sources etc... just pick an ai, trust it and feed it your life.
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Silent-Storms Apr 2, 2026 +4
He has some form of narcissism. He craves adoration and achievement and good news. He can't handle criticism or bad news. Physically speaking it's his cardiovascular system that is the weak link and susceptible to stress.
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Captain_Futile Apr 2, 2026 +5
“Some form” as in “malignant”: highly manipulative, lack empathy, and often use "dark triad" traits—Machiavellianism and psychopathy—to gain power, destroy others emotionally, and avoid accountability.
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Silent-Storms Apr 2, 2026 +2
I'm not a clinical psychologist or up to speed on the current DSM, so I'm being general.
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supercali45 Apr 2, 2026 +3
He doesn’t feel stress I think .. his brain is that rotten
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AgentInkling99 Apr 2, 2026 +2
Just one more Big Mac right???? Right??? Please?
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Bittermare Apr 3, 2026 +1
But being the narcissist he is, he will project blame to everyone around him, since he cannot look at himself. Thus…the “housecleaning” of those under him…which will accelerate.
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NeoMegaRyuMKII Apr 2, 2026 +13
Yes in the sense that he is angry that people are not worshipping him. No in the sense that he's going to keep doing whatever he wants.
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Weekly_Print_3437 Apr 2, 2026 +18
If it translates into midterm losses that allow him to be tried for the crimes he committed
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IntelligentStyle402 Apr 2, 2026 +5
Unfortunately, republicans will do everything in their power to win. Since Reaganism, republicans have been marching us straight forward into a totalitarian regime. They will never give up their dream. They want it all and they will take it all. Right now they all the power and money!
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Mysterious-Tie7039 Apr 2, 2026 +8
He’s so f****** vain that yes, it matters to him.
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accountabilitycounts Apr 2, 2026 +11
He is doing everything he can (illegally or otherwise) to rig the midterms, because he knows he will lose control over Congress. I'd say he perceives an impact.
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StrangerFew2424 Apr 2, 2026 +4
Yes, it matters to him because he's a raging narcissist, but the real reason it matters is that it gauges people's feelings going into the midterm elections...
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Captain_Aware4503 Apr 2, 2026 +2
No he won't be running for office again, and plans to live in a $400 bunker under a ballroom as a dictator after his Presidency officially ends.
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-18k- Apr 2, 2026 +2
I mean, would that be so bad? The next president can just lock the door, tear down the ballroom and rebuild the east wing over it with reinforced flooring.
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georgepana Apr 2, 2026 +1
Cement over the opening to the bunker. Then pipe in fake reports, Mission-Impossible style, from Anderson Cooper and Wolf Blitzer that Trump was finally given the Nobel Peace Prize, that his economy is being praised to the heavens by 99.9% of all economists, and that he polled #1 with Time magazine readers for "Best President in history." Also, add an explosive "60 Minutes" report in which President Obama told the interviewer that in reteospect Trump was a great President and a great humanitarian. That'll keep Trump happy until he passes.
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-18k- Apr 2, 2026 +1
> keep Trump happy ?
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georgepana Apr 2, 2026 +1
"Happy" in ignorant bliss.
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HoneyNutCheerios78 Apr 2, 2026 +1
I wish it were a Temu $400 bunker.
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RealBeefGyro Apr 2, 2026 +2
Nope he doesn’t give a shit. But it should worry all the GOP sycophants that hitched themselves to his wagon. The Republican party is worthless and should go the way of the whigs.
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ErinFiqsette Apr 2, 2026 +2
Not really...His Top Priority is avoiding further Narcissistic Injury from negative publicity related to Epsteingate. The Big Guy can only delay the inevitable...his days are numbered, in any case. I will be surprised if He makes it to the end of 2026, without some kind of medical "incident" that leaves Him hospitalized, and therefore unable to appear in court.
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HuntPsychologically Apr 2, 2026 +1
Does it matter?" Only if you think he’s planning on winning a popularity contest. He’s spent the last decade proving that you can govern via a "Base-Only" strategy. Low approval ratings used to scare presidents into moving to the center. For Trump, they’re just fuel for the "Media is out to get me" narrative. He doesn't want to be loved by the people who browse Politics; he wants to be feared by the people who run against him.
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Glum_Gate_9444 Apr 2, 2026 +1
Outside of the stress inducing a health incident? No, it doesn't matter to him, he is in his last legally allowed term.
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TheRuneMeister Apr 2, 2026 +1
No…next question please
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TheShipEliza Apr 2, 2026 +1
It matter for nov. and that is all that matters.
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dover_oxide Apr 2, 2026 +1
It might be a Nixon type situation where once his base starts to leave him, the rest of the party will turn on him
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truthrises Apr 2, 2026 +1
That really depends on how many GOP congresspeople are worried about their jobs/not caught up in the Epstein files. In other times, the knives would already be out.
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Aggressive-Will-4500 Apr 2, 2026 +1
I say that it would eat him alive; HOWEVER, we know that he's getting information and news hand-fed to him so they probably pick-and-choose the polls that don't show that more an more people hate his incompetent guts every day.
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hyper-object Apr 3, 2026 +1
It matters to me. The less my fellow Americans support this guy, the less I want to throw myself off a bridge.
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BigBadBabyDaddy_420 Apr 3, 2026 +1
Nope. Supreme Court gave him cate blanchett.
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SemichiSam Apr 3, 2026 +1
Every time I read about his tanking approval rating, it's the same as last time it tanked. Cut the c***. Just tell us when it's over.
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Zahgi Apr 3, 2026 +1
No one, and I mean no one, is telling Don Shitler about these polls. Not his goons, not Faux News, no one.
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Classic-Break5888 Apr 3, 2026 +1
Of course, there’s nothing worse for impotent narcissists
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Phronias Apr 3, 2026 +1
It will more the booing and public anger he faces when he is out and about rather than some poll saying he's dismal.
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Some_Ride1014 Apr 2, 2026 +1
No because he doesn’t believe in “fake polls”
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-18k- Apr 2, 2026 +6
I think his obsession with fake polls is because he very much does fear they are not fake at all.
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georgepana Apr 2, 2026 +2
He was told by his favorite pollster, highly partisan Rasmussen, that "if the election were today Trump would lose to Biden easily", just a few weeks ago. That must have stung, since that pollster in particular always receives high praise from Trump. The truth is that the White House has a very sophisticated polling department. They poll things all the time, and they have the budget to have daily granular polls, by demographic, by geographic region, by age, and so forth. Approval polls are a big part of that polling strategy, so they know where people stand on the issues. Trump is very thin-skinned and a major narcissist, so they may not give him the exact numbers, out of fear he'll blow a vessel, but clearly they tell him something like "your approval is down a bit, having the government shutdown drag on is probably not a good thing" and "Pam Bondi's Senate hearing was very unpopular with the majority of Americans, and it is dragging your approval down. Maybe time to fire her." He knows that his approval is down, he refers to it constantly as a barrier to doing what he REALLY wants to do.
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Ok_Addition_356 Apr 2, 2026 +1
Not at all. This is one of the first times in my 40+ years of life I can honestly say I don't think anyone in the WH gives a f*** what anyone, including the American people, think about anything. We voted them in... served our use to them... We can f*** off now.
1
Kaz_117_Petrel Apr 2, 2026
No, disapproval only matters if partnered with action. As long as congress continues to be his lapdog, licking master’s boots, he doesn’t need to care what anyone thinks of him. He has no intention of ever leaving office alive. No intention of ever facing real consequences. Will he, we can only hope. But he’s got people making plans to protect him for the remainder of whatever is left of his hate filled, ignorant, vengeance driven, narcissistic empty pointless life. Then he will eventually be nothing but a cautionary tale from our history, and a stain on the reputation of all who backed him.
0
Rizen_Wolf Apr 2, 2026 -1
Its amazing to me the number of people in this sub so deeply invested in thinking variants of... "Ha ha... the emperor has no clothes!" while in my head I am imagining him thinking "Man, its great being a nudist!"
-1
commitme Apr 2, 2026 -2
Nope. He could have 0% support and nothing would change.
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Silent-Storms Apr 2, 2026 +4
It changes all the time. TACO is a thing because he responds to stimulus. Obviously he cares most about the markets, but he also backed off after the pretti killing, which was not financial at all.
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