Jamelle Bouie: Trump is Very Unpopular. Things Are About to Get Weird. [View all]

Apr 22, 2026

Trump is shockingly unpopular and it really does matter. Unpopularity isn't just a number. It changes how everyone else behaves. Institutions that bent to Trump are quietly looking for off-ramps. Republicans are retiring from Congress at record rates. Senate seats once considered safely out of reach are now in play. The national environment is trending toward Democrats at a scale not seen since 2018, possibly further.

The interesting isn't just what the midterms look like — it's what happens when a president becomes this unpopular this early, with two years still left to go.

What we do know is that Trump won't respond well to this development. The question is whether that means escalation abroad, lashing out at political enemies, or simply withdrawing from the public entirely.