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October 23, 2026
The Trump Loyalty Club: Why Are Trump's 20%-34% Approval Ratings So High?
Robert A. Rees
Trump has perfected the politics of perpetual persecution. Investigations are witch hunts. Adverse court decisions demonstrate judicial bias. Critical journalism proves that the press is corrupt. Opposition becomes sabotage, and accountability becomes political warfare.
Donald Trump’s approval ratings have settled into the political equivalent of a participation trophy: roughly 30 to 34 percent of Americans still approve of his overall performance, while his handling of immigration, inflation, and war have fared even worse. For most presidents, such numbers would inspire sleepless nights and emergency meetings with political advisers. For Trump, they seem to inspire another round of frantic promises of giveaways and self-congratulation.
The real mystery is not why so many Americans disapprove of him but why, in the light of so many failures and faux pas, so many continue to approve of him, if not his performance. What must a president do to lose the support of people who appear willing to forgive him almost anything?
A recent Hill article examining corruption allegations surrounding Trump's second term raises questions about presidential ethics, personal financial interests, and the use of presidential power. Ethics watchdogs have scrutinized his business ventures, cryptocurrency interests, controversial pardons, and potential conflicts of interest. Taken together, they invite an uncomfortable question: Is the presidency a public trust or an unusually well-connected and fundamentally corrupt business?
https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/6101218-trump-corruption-second-term/
Previous presidents sometimes worried at least about the appearance of impropriety. Trump seems to have discovered an alternative strategy: Create so many controversies that no single one has time to become a lasting scandal. By the time Americans finish digesting Monday's outrage, Tuesday's has arrived, and Wednesday's is a self-fulfilling prophecy.
It is the political equivalent of a firehose aimed at a burning building. Eventually, everyone gets wet, nobody knows where the fire started, and the arsonist complains about the water bill.
How does Trump retain his loyal 30 percent?
First, there is the miracle of partisan immunity. For some supporters, Trump could announce that the sun rises in the west, and they would applaud him for finally doing something about the sunset. Criticism of Trump has become so closely identified with criticism of their political tribe that admitting he is wrong can feel like betraying one's family.
The arrangement is peculiar: Trump makes the mistakes, his opponents point them out, and his supporters become angry with the people who noticed.
Second, some supporters consider his policies more important than his character. They want stricter immigration enforcement, more conservative judges, lower taxes, or victories in the culture wars, and no abortion. They may regard his personal conduct as unpleasant but tolerable collateral damage.
There is a long tradition of voters overlooking politicians' shortcomings to obtain desired policies. Trump has simply expanded the definition of shortcomings until it requires its own congressional subcommittee. Other politicians ask voters to overlook a blemish. Trump asks them to admire the tattoo.
Third, Trump has perfected the politics of perpetual persecution. Investigations are witch hunts. Adverse court decisions demonstrate judicial bias. Critical journalism proves that the press is corrupt. Opposition becomes sabotage, and accountability becomes political warfare.
Fourth, Americans are exhausted. Trump generates controversies at a rate that would challenge a Hollywood studio. Each new declaration, insult, executive action, or accusation competes with yesterday's emergency. Scandal becomes background noise. What once might have been disqualifying becomes merely Thursday.
The increasing counterbalance to all these proclivities is inflation, which presents a special problem for presidential boasting. Families cannot pay grocery bills with campaign slogans. Rent does not decline because the president insults a journalist. Eggs do not become cheaper when someone declares victory over the economy. Reality, unfortunately for politicians, does not always respect the communications strategy.
Yet the deeper concern remains: What happens when a president's supporters no longer regard honesty, integrity, and restraint as essential qualifications for office? What happens when loyalty to a political leader becomes more important than the principles that supposedly justify that loyalty?
The Founders understood that power invites abuse. They constructed checks and balances because they did not expect every president to possess George Washington's character, resulting in Trump not merely being unwilling to confess chopping down a cherry tree, but proceeding against a judge’s “advance notice requirement” to chop down 430 trees in the East Potomac Golf Links at Hains Point in Washington, D.C. But constitutional safeguards ultimately depend on citizens who care more about the republic than about protecting their favorite politician.
A president can survive disapproval and criticism. A democracy cannot safely survive a political culture in which accountability becomes optional and loyalty becomes unconditional.
The most troubling feature of Trump's 30 percent supporters is not simply that they continue to support him. It is the possibility that no amount of evidence, misconduct, or broken promises would persuade some of them to stop.
At that point, the problem is no longer simply presidential. It is constitutional, cultural, and profoundly democratic.
And unlike Trump's approval ratings, that problem deserves considerably more than 30 percent of our attention.
Robert Rees is an academic, humanitarian, and environmentalist. He is President of FastForward for the Planet, a non-profit focused on saving Great Salt Lake.
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