The cult of Trump is waning. Now beware the death throes

October 28, 2026 — 11:45am

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The last time any poll showed Donald Trump’s approval rating higher than his disapproval was in the final week of October 2025.

Since then, the property mogul and reality TV star who personally transformed American politics has increasingly become a liability for his own party, at least as much as he remains a motivating force.

The human brain is not wired to deal well with that kind of fall from grace. Watching him rehash his threats in recent days to take a third term has been like watching a washed-up comedian tell the same joke that wasn’t funny to a diminishing audience.

Except this comedian has the nuclear codes.

Rather than ending his unpopular tariff regime or war in Iran, which sparked a cost-of-living crisis, Trump has spent a year trying to re-engineer the poll in his favour. He has tried to redraw the political map to favour Republicans, and limit mail-in voting, which he sees as helping Democrats. He personally votes by mail.

Despite these efforts, voters are expected to pummel Trump’s party at next week’s midterm election and leave his power diminished for the remainder of his presidency.

It used to be that Trump was dangerous because of how he used his presidency – sending the paramilitary immigration force of ICE to terrify........

© The Sydney Morning Herald