Our forthcoming book is The Comeback: The 2024 Elections and American Politics. The second Trump administration is off to an ominous start.t.
Alex Isenstadt and Marc Caputo at Axios:
- The promise of Elon Musk's DOGE is fizzling out, and many administration officials wanted him out of the White House well before he said Tuesday that he'll "significantly" cut back on his government work.
- Pete Hegseth's Pentagon is awash in firings, leaks and public warnings of internal ineptitude.
- Lots of officials are dumping on Trade Adviser Peter Navarro, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and others for their tariff strategy that provoked a global market meltdown, even though it's really Trump's policy.
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessett is covering his own hide amid lots of leaks about him being the voice of sanity. Oddly, good press can be one way to end up on Trump's bad side.
- Last week in the West Wing, the simmering tension between Bessent and Musk boiled over into a prolonged and heated shouting match over an IRS commissioner appointment.
- And after juicing economic unease by dumping on the Fed and suggesting he might try to fire Chairman Jerome Powell, Trump has backed away from all that — and much of his harsh talk on tariffs. For now, anyway.
People are noticing. Jared Gans at The Hill:
President Trump has seen his favorability ratings start to take a hit in the first three months of his presidency amid growing criticism of his handling of the economy and various controversies, according to the initial polling averages from Decision Desk HQ/The Hill.
The averages show that Trump is currently underwater after starting his term in January with a net positive approval rating. DDHQ/The Hill’s average had his approval rating above 50 percent for the first days of his presidency. By late April, his average approval rating had fallen under 45 percent.
