Where is the Trump MAGA voted for?

Just over a year into his second term, it’s clear that President Trump is all out of ideas.  

With his approval rating cratering to an all-time low of 33 percent amid a stalled legislative agenda, rising inflation and a disastrous war in Iran, Trump seems more interested in designing ballrooms and presidential libraries than he does in helming the ship of state. When asked to speak to his political base at last week’s Conservative Political Action Conference, he unexpectedly declined. MAGA’s master salesman seems to recognize his presidency is a product few Americans are buying. 

In January, Trump announced he’d barnstorm the country once a week in the run-up to November’s midterm elections. That plan never got off the ground. A domestic policy pivot promised earlier this year by White House chief of staff Susie Wiles also disappeared from Trump’s schedule. Instead, the White House looks directionless and the president seems tired, while largely unsupervised Cabinet secretaries chart their own often conflicting paths.  

Trump’s stagnation hasn’t gone unnoticed by Trump’s fellow Republicans — or by voters.  

“I think that MAGA is dying. I do,” 27-year-old Republican strategist Samantha Cassell told The New York Times. Cassell’s view is shared by a growing number of the young conservatives responsible for returning Trump to power in 2024.  

A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found that just 33 percent of men ages 18 to 29 viewed Trump favorably, compared to 46 percent in 2024. Chief among their concerns is the feeling that Trump simply hasn’t been engaged enough in lowering consumer prices and repairing an economy that now creates no additional jobs. If Trump is going to be checked out of the job, young people reason, they are ready to check out on Trump. 

The president’s apathy hasn’t gone unnoticed by ambitious Republicans, either. This year’s CPAC event included a noticeable streak of Trump criticism from MAGA’s inner circle, including former Blackwater CEO Erik Prince and disgraced former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.). Open criticism of Trump’s policies would have been unheard of during his first term, but his growing absence has created new opportunities for Republicans to envision a post-Trump future for their party. 

“I counseled as loud as possible against doing this in the first place,” Prince said of Trump’s decision to attack Iran. Privately, some conservative leaders even floated the idea of supporting Secretary of State Marco Rubio in 2028 instead of Vice President JD Vance as a way to guide the party away from Trump’s wounded MAGA brand. It is hard to imagine that kind of open dissent taking place if Trump had actually bothered to attend CPAC and tout his agenda. 

But that only invites the question: What agenda?  

Last month, Trump insisted that he’s “gotten everything passed that we need” from Congress for the next four years. Voters would disagree, especially when they head to the grocery store, where the wholesale price of fresh fruits and vegetables has risen by a staggering 48 percent amid a broader spike in food prices. Those voters may remember that Trump pledged to tame inflation and rising consumer costs “starting on Day one.” They can be forgiven for thinking he may still have some crucial business to conduct with Congress before declaring victory and turning his attention to that glitzy new White House ballroom.

In fact, the only clear piece of Trump’s legislative agenda also highlights just how impotent he’s become as a political operator. The SAVE America Act is currently bogged down in the Senate, where Trump is demanding Republicans kill the filibuster and ram the bill through. Republican senators have largely brushed off Trump’s demands — meaning Trump’s biggest legislative priority yet will likely go down in humiliating defeat.

The looming failure of the SAVE America Act will be entirely Trump’s fault. Instead of actually leading negotiations with Democrats on his signature bill, Trump has largely confined himself to griping about it on Truth Social. Gone is Trump the consummate dealmaker, twisting arms and making offers to get his agenda through a divided Congress. In his place is an exhausted baby who can only slam his fists and demand Senate Republicans do the impossible.  

Trump’s lack of interest in actually leading the country will come back to haunt the Republicans, who will be forced to explain their inaction to furious voters during this year’s midterm election season. Endangered Republican lawmakers are faced with an impossible task. How do you tell suffering Americans that their president simply doesn’t care? 

Max Burns is a veteran Democratic strategist and founder of Third Degree Strategies.

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