On today’s edition of The Editors, Rich is joined by Phil, MBD, and Ramesh for a discussion about President Trump’s significant approval-ratings drop.

“We have a bunch of new Trump polls, and it’s not looking great,” Rich says. “His job approval rating has taken a step down pretty much everywhere.”

Michael agrees and says, “He’s coming down from the highest of highs, for him, which is early in this second term, [he] was more popular than ever. I think there was relief to be out from under Biden and the conspiracy to hide his senility and have someone who is at least active again and someone who is associated with a strong economy.”

Unfortunately for Trump, his use of the tariff stick is causing unease in the markets, and Michael thinks “there just hasn’t been the forethought here, and I think the public is holding him accountable.”

Ramesh points out that Trump has “lost a foil. So, you know, in 2016, obviously, and 2024, he had these great foils in Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. And now the Democrats basically don’t have a leader, and it’s just Trump blotting out the sun. And we know that when Trump blots out the sun, the public tends to get pretty weary of it pretty fast.”

The Editors podcast is recorded on Tuesdays and Fridays every week and is available wherever you listen to podcasts.