A year after his return to the White House, support for Donald Trump is still the majority among his supporters, but it has lost strength. This is not a rupture or an immediate electoral reversal, but rather a more fragile, less automatic adhesion, which begins to show cracks when contrasted with daily reality and with an increasingly loaded presidential agenda.

This mismatch is visible in the way in which the pocket is relegated to a foreign policy that gains prominence—with Venezuela as an emblem—while the unrest over prices remains without a clear answer. In parallel, the confidence crisis associated with the case Epstein It remains open: it does not monopolize public attention, but it is not diluted either, and acts as a persistent background noise within the Trumpist coalition itself.

Home economics

The continuous increase of cost of living has become Trump’s main liability. According to a survey of APonly the 31% of Americans approves of how he is managing the economy, nine points less than in March and the lowest level recorded for Trump in this survey in any of his mandates.

In fact, Trump has mocked of that frustration popular: “They have a new word. You know, they always have a hoax. The new word is affordability.”he said in December. However, just a few weeks later, the president seems to be trying to correct course, presenting macroeconomic data as a sign of improvement, something his predecessor already tried, Joe Bidenwithout success.

Trump’s approval also drops on the issues that he sold as crucial in his re-election campaign and approval drops 10 points on both the management of the immigration (it has gone from 49% to 38%) as crime (goes from 53% to 43%).

Even so, its popularity at a general level (it is in the 36%six points less than in March) falls less than the perception of how well he is doing on the issues that concern voters most. That is, sympathy for the character makes the president more resilient than his effectiveness as a leader.

Within the Republican Party, the erosion is more contained, but real. He 69% of Republicans approves of its economic management, compared to 78% in March. In interviews around the polls, voters who continue to support Trump nevertheless describe how his home economics It doesn’t fit with the official narrative that the U.S. economy is booming again, although it gives the president more time to do it.

Venezuela or the shopping basket

That domestic unrest live with a strategic turn that explains why much of the MAGA universe does not necessarily perceive a contradiction between ‘America first’ and the operation in Venezuela. In this phase, the motto is interpreted less as isolationism and more as sphere control: The United States must rule in its hemisphere and act forcefully when it invokes the national interest.

Under this logic, the operation in Venezuela is presented as a legitimate action of national interest: If diplomatic or economic pressure is not enough, the use of force is normalized as long as it can be shown as quick, that it seems like a military victory that is easy to sell, without American casualties or chaotic images. Trump put it bluntly—”MAGA loves everything I do”—but the cracks emerge when the message gets messy.

After suggesting that the US will “lead” Venezuela for a time and not ruling out “boots on the ground”Secretary of State Marco Rubio was forced to clarify that there would be no US troops on Venezuelan soil, a correction that revealed the delicate balance between foreign epic and fear of prolonged involvement.

First internal criticism

The most critical voice has been that of a Former Republican Congresswoman, Marjorie Taylor Greenewho has gone from being a prominent Trump ally to resigning her seat due to disagreements with the president. “This is the same Washington script that we are so sick and tired of, that does not serve the American people,” he told NBC, adding: “The Trump Administration campaigned on the slogan ‘Make America Great Again,’ which we thought put America first. I want that domestic politics be the priority that helps Americans afford living after four disastrous years of the Biden Administration.”

The ideologue of ‘Let’s make America great again’, Steve Bannon, former White House chief strategist and still continues to be an influential person in ultra-conservative circles, he has also openly rejected entry into Venezuela. “The lack of framing of the message about a possible occupation “has the base baffled, if not angry”said Bannon, who wondered if he was not evoking the “Iraq fiasco under Bush“, a precedent very present in the American imagination.

Epstein and the trust gap

Meanwhile, Trump continues to be projected the shadow of the Jeffrey Epstein scandalthe pedophile magnate who plotted a network of abuse by powerful men on young women and minors in his luxury mansion.

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives approved a measure to force the release of files on the Justice Department case after months of resistance from Trump himself. The turn came when even close allies became critical. The episode has not broken Republican support, but it has weakened it in a sensitive area: the transparency.

A large majority of Americans, including many Republican voters, believe that The Government hides information about Epstein’s death and about who was involved. It is not the issue that moves the most votes, but it is a wound among an ultra-conservative and religious base that does not like sexual scandals.

For now, support holds. But between a tightening pocketa foreign policy that competes for attention and a confidence crisis that does not finish closing, Trumpism enters in 2026 less armored than it was a year ago.

Subscribe to continue reading

A year after his return to the White House, support for Donald Trump is still the majority among his supporters, but it has lost strength. This is not a rupture or an immediate electoral reversal, but rather a more fragile, less automatic adhesion, which begins to show cracks when contrasted with daily reality and with an increasingly loaded presidential agenda.

This mismatch is visible in the way in which the pocket is relegated to a foreign policy that gains prominence—with Venezuela as an emblem—while the unrest over prices remains without a clear answer. In parallel, the confidence crisis associated with the case Epstein It remains open: it does not monopolize public attention, but it is not diluted either, and acts as a persistent background noise within the Trumpist coalition itself.

Home economics

The continuous increase of cost of living has become Trump’s main liability. According to a survey of APonly the 31% of Americans approves of how he is managing the economy, nine points less than in March and the lowest level recorded for Trump in this survey in any of his mandates.

In fact, Trump has mocked of that frustration popular: “They have a new word. You know, they always have a hoax. The new word is affordability.”he said in December. However, just a few weeks later, the president seems to be trying to correct course, presenting macroeconomic data as a sign of improvement, something his predecessor already tried, Joe Bidenwithout success.

Trump’s approval also drops on the issues that he sold as crucial in his re-election campaign and approval drops 10 points on both the management of the immigration (it has gone from 49% to 38%) as crime (goes from 53% to 43%).

Even so, its popularity at a general level (it is in the 36%six points less than in March) falls less than the perception of how well he is doing on the issues that concern voters most. That is, sympathy for the character makes the president more resilient than his effectiveness as a leader.

Within the Republican Party, the erosion is more contained, but real. He 69% of Republicans approves of its economic management, compared to 78% in March. In interviews around the polls, voters who continue to support Trump nevertheless describe how his home economics It doesn’t fit with the official narrative that the U.S. economy is booming again, although it gives the president more time to do it.

Venezuela or the shopping basket

That domestic unrest live with a strategic turn that explains why much of the MAGA universe does not necessarily perceive a contradiction between ‘America first’ and the operation in Venezuela. In this phase, the motto is interpreted less as isolationism and more as sphere control: The United States must rule in its hemisphere and act forcefully when it invokes the national interest.

Under this logic, the operation in Venezuela is presented as a legitimate action of national interest: If diplomatic or economic pressure is not enough, the use of force is normalized as long as it can be shown as quick, that it seems like a military victory that is easy to sell, without American casualties or chaotic images. Trump put it bluntly—”MAGA loves everything I do”—but the cracks emerge when the message gets messy.

After suggesting that the US will “lead” Venezuela for a time and not ruling out “boots on the ground”Secretary of State Marco Rubio was forced to clarify that there would be no US troops on Venezuelan soil, a correction that revealed the delicate balance between foreign epic and fear of prolonged involvement.

First internal criticism

The most critical voice has been that of a Former Republican Congresswoman, Marjorie Taylor Greenewho has gone from being a prominent Trump ally to resigning her seat due to disagreements with the president. “This is the same Washington script that we are so sick and tired of, that does not serve the American people,” he told NBC, adding: “The Trump Administration campaigned on the slogan ‘Make America Great Again,’ which we thought put America first. I want that domestic politics be the priority that helps Americans afford living after four disastrous years of the Biden Administration.”

The ideologue of ‘Let’s make America great again’, Steve Bannon, former White House chief strategist and still continues to be an influential person in ultra-conservative circles, he has also openly rejected entry into Venezuela. “The lack of framing of the message about a possible occupation “has the base baffled, if not angry”said Bannon, who wondered if he was not evoking the “Iraq fiasco under Bush“, a precedent very present in the American imagination.

Epstein and the trust crack

Meanwhile, Trump continues to be projected the shadow of the Jeffrey Epstein scandalthe pedophile magnate who plotted a network of abuse by powerful men on young women and minors in his luxury mansion.

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives approved a measure to force the release of files on the Justice Department case after months of resistance from Trump himself. The turn came when even close allies became critical. The episode has not broken Republican support, but it has weakened it in a sensitive area: the transparency.

A large majority of Americans, including many Republican voters, believe that The Government hides information about Epstein’s death and about who was involved. It is not the issue that moves the most votes, but it is a wound among an ultra-conservative and religious base that does not like sexual scandals.

For now, support holds. But between a tightening pocketa foreign policy that competes for attention and a confidence crisis that does not finish closing, Trumpism enters in 2026 less armored than it was a year ago.

Subscribe to continue reading