Trump’s disapproval rises with shutdown, other ‘war on workers’ actions

This month started with a shutdown that followed weeks of unending controversies from the White House and the President personally, and the chaos – whether planned or not – has resulted in popular support dropping like an anvil in a koi pond.

The 15^th shutdown since 1981, the current standoff took effect after the GOP’s temporary funding “Continuing Resolution” proposal got 55 votes – 5 short of what’s required to overcome a filibuster – an important tool for a minority party.

Trump and his toadies have blamed Democrats for the shutdown, which has meant about 750,000 federal workers missing paychecks. The President has said Democrats seek free health care for violent criminals and Vice President Vance said Democrats want “health care for illegal aliens” (both statements labeled “a lie” by CNN).

In fact, the key issue is extending tax credits that have made health insurance more affordable for millions of U.S. citizens since the COVID pandemic. After the Republican Congress and Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” those subsidies – for low- and middle-income people who purchase health insurance through the Affordable Care Act – are scheduled to end in December unless Congress extends them. That would more than double what subsidized enrollees currently pay for premiums, according to KFF, a nonprofit that researches health-care issues.

Besides the shutdown, recent weeks’ actions and blunders include Trump’s wacky speech filled with exaggerations and falsehoods at the United Nations; blaming “antifa” and the Left for violence when the government’s own statistics show that Right-wing violence is far more common; the unhinged and insulting remarks he and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made to U.S. military leaders (saying that the nation is “under invasion from within” and that U.S. cities should be “training grounds” to target domestic “enemies”); praising the (temporary) silencing of late-night host Jimmy Kimmel; Trump’s ongoing false statements about violence in "blue" cities – a pretext for sending troops to punish political foes; rescinding funding approved by Congress – again, to blue states; dodging a discharge petition to release the Epstein files by having House Speaker Mike Johnson refusing to seat Arizona’s newly elected Democratic Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva; indicting a former FBI director after firing a federal prosecutor who found no evidence of wrongdoing; and threatening to fire – not temporarily furlough – thousands more federal workers, an illegal move.

It's a “war on workers,” The Nation magazine says.

During his 2024 campaign, Trump promised to fight for workers, saying, “You’re going to have the American Dream back,” adding, “I’ve dealt with unions my whole life. I have a great relationship with unions.”

Once his inauguration occurred, reality reared an ugly truth. Some 80% of unionized federal workers lost their jobs, and dozens of federal agencies, including Health & Human Services, Veterans Affairs, Defense, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Education, even the decades-old Voice of America, and especially the Department of Labor have had billions of dollars taken away.

Indeed, the President, adviser Stephen Miller and disciples of the Right-wing Project 2025 have engineered a nationwide assault on working Americans and unions:

* firing or de-funding federal workers and programs, attacking the long-standing apolitical Civil Service to replace it with a “spoils” system rewarding those who pledge loyalty to Trump;

* attacking organized labor by neutralizing the National Labor Relations Board;

* advocating for lower wages and inferior benefits;

* diminishing protections for job safety and health;

* criticizing equal opportunity and goals of a diverse labor force; and

* expanding immigration improvements to wholesale detentions and deportations, affecting crucial day-labor positions in various industries, meat-packing and agriculture as much as misguided or haphazard tariffs threatening soybean farmers with bankruptcy.

 

“He hasn’t done squat to help working people,” said former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, an author and Emeritus Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley. And “Trump’s approval ratings are tanking.”

True. The New York Times’ poll found 26% blame Trump and the GOP for the shutdown, with 19% blaming Democrats.

The Washington Post’s poll showed “significantly more Americans blame President Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans for the shutdown than Democrats: 47% to 30%.

Gallup shows Trump’s support is lower than any modern Presidents at this point in their administrations.

Generally, apart from the shutdown, Morning Consult’s poll shows half of the country’s states disapprove of Trump – 55% of Illinoisans disapprove of him.

A poll from YouGov/The Economist shows 47% of Americans “strongly disapprove” of Trump – up 11% from January.

And RealClearPolitics’ poll show Trump’s disapproval ratings range from 50% to 53%, with an increasing negative assessment.

 

Campaign words are cheap; the jobs and security Trump’s targeting? Priceless.

And Americans increasingly see that.