The thermostat comes for Trumpism

The public cares more about inflation and the economy now than in 2024, and less about immigration and crime

One hundred days ago, in his second inaugural address, Donald Trump told the world that "the golden age of America begins right now." He promised an economy that was the envy of the world, an end to crime and undocumented immigration, and respect for the U.S. on the world stage. A month later, in late February, Trump told a meeting of the Republican Governors Association that the party was going to continue their winning spree into the 2026 midterms, saying, “I think we’re going to really increase our margins by a lot."

Barring a significant external shock or major change in the president’s policy agenda, that prediction is very unlikely to come true. Over his first 100 days Trump’s standing has materially eroded on two fronts: issue approval, which has been well covered so far, and issue salience, which has not. And since the question of which issues people care about feeds into current debates among Democratic-aligned strategists and pundits, I figure we should devote special attenti…