Trump is wildly unpopular and losing ground fast. Why is anyone afraid of him? | Opinion
 USA TODAY
Trump administration launches Smithsonian review to remove 'divisive' materials
While the top issues for most Americans are high prices, inflation and health care, our increasingly unpopular president is laser-focused on things nobody cares about. Like downplaying exhibitions on the history of slavery at the Smithsonian.
On the same day a new poll by The Economist/YouGov showed Donald Trump’s disapproval rating hitting a new high, the president took time to post this on social media: “The Smithsonian is OUT OF CONTROL, where everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been.”
How bad slavery was? I’m not quite sure what that implies, but suffice it to say the new poll didn’t find “See less about how slavery was bad” to be a priority for American voters watching the costs of beef and vegetables skyrocket.
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Americans care about inflation, Trump cares about 'WOKE' museums
President Donald Trump reacts during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Oval Office of the White House on Aug. 18, 2025.© Kevin Lamarque, REUTERS
Trump went on to say he has “instructed my attorneys to go through the Museums” and start getting rid of “WOKE,” whatever that means.
The Aug. 19 poll and Trump’s rambling post about ridding our museums of history create a perfect moment to pose this question: Why is anyone in American politics or in the corporate world afraid of this toxic president?
Opinion: Nobody knows what Trump is talking about anymore and no one seems to care
Trump’s approval rating in the Economist/YouGov polling has tumbled from +3% at the beginning of February to -15% now. He’s underwater on every issue Americans care about, from immigration (53% disapprove) to jobs and the economy (53% disapprove) to inflation (61% disapprove) to foreign trade (56% disapprove).
Nearly two-thirds of Americans – two-thirds! – say the country, under the leadership of President Donald Trump, is “out of control.”
Trump is so unpopular that there's no risk in standing up to him
Protest against President Donald Trump in Washington, DC, on Aug. 16, 2025.© Jack Gruber, USA TODAY
So when a public figure who is unpopular comes out and says he wants to scrub all the stuff about “how bad Slavery was” from America’s museums, I think other public figures would be on solid ground if they denounced him.
Republicans won’t do it, of course. They’ve spent decades ignoring the needs of their voters, focusing instead on tossing them red meat from the culture wars and assuming that bashing liberals is all that matters.
But even in Democratic circles, most continue to go after Trump with kid gloves, with notable exceptions like Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
And corporate types are, by and large, either silent or outright supportive of a president liked by fewer and fewer Americans.
From a marketing and political strategy standpoint, none of this makes sense. Trump’s bullying nature and willingness to use the power of the federal government against his enemies are clearly cowing many, which is pathetic.
You don’t wait around for an unpopular bully to gather more power.
Most Americans don't see US as a dark and dangerous place
Think about Trump’s anti-immigrant, anti-woke, fearmongering worldview. He has dispatched the National Guard to Washington, DC, to fight a crime wave that doesn’t exist. He speaks routinely about big U.S. cities being crime-ridden, trotting out words like “filth” and “squalor,” and he demeans Americans who don’t stand in lockstep with him.
U.S. President Donald Trump listens during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders at the White House in Washington, DC, on Aug. 18, 2025.© Alexander Drago, Reuters
Now consider this question posed in the YouGov poll under “World View”: Which comes closest to your view?
The answer “Our lives are threatened by terrorists, criminals, and illegal immigrants and our priority should be to protect ourselves” was chosen by only 35% of respondents.
The answer “It’s a big, beautiful world, mostly full of good people, and we must find a way to embrace each other and not allow ourselves to become isolated” was chosen by 50% of respondents.
Corporate leaders only stand to benefit from taking on TrumpPeople aren’t buying what Trump is selling. They don’t like what he’s selling. And they don’t like him.
There is zero political risk to standing up against this president. There is only upside, and how more haven’t realized it yet is beyond me.
Opinion: At Ukraine talks, Trump was a child among adults. You can't trust him – or Putin.
Powerful people in the business and political worlds, along with everyday Americans, don’t have to sit silently and let Trump do what he wants, whether it's militarizing city streets, cruelly rounding up immigrants and forcing them into camps, or purging the evils from America’s past to create a fake United States of Righteousness.
Opposing him has the benefit of being the moral move and the popular move. The arrow pointing to the right side of history is brighter than the sun.
Bending to the will of a wannabe tyrant has never benefited anybody. Standing up and shouting a wannabe tyrant down, on the other hand, is the kind of thing that gets remembered. |
