President Trump appeared to hope that last week would amount to an extended victory lap marking the first anniversary of his return to the White House, starting with a celebratory press conference capped by a demonstration of his global muscle at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Things didn’t turn out as planned, either at home or abroad.
The milestone of Trump’s first year back in power was greeted by polls showing American voters overwhelmingly disapprove of the job he’s doing, even on issues like immigration and the economy that were once his strong suits.
Then, things went from bad to worse in Switzerland, where Trump retreated from his insistent demands that Denmark hand over Greenland to the U.S.
None of it seemed to rattle the president.
“I think God is very proud of the job I’ve done,” Trump said last week at the anniversary press conference.
Just 12 months after Trump’s return to the White House, though, he’s sitting at about a 40% job approval rating according to polling averages.
Key demographic groups that fueled his impressive 2024 comeback victory have soured on him, including young voters, men and, crucially, Latinos.
“Voters, it seemed, were willing to give him another shot (in 2024),” G. Elliott Morris, a prominent pollster, wrote on his Strength in Numbers blog. “They are no longer willing to give him that chance.”
They don’t like what they’re seeing with immigration agents carrying out a violent crackdown on the streets of American cities and rising prices that many blame on his tariffs on imported goods.
The political consequences of Trump’s blind spot could be dire for him and his Republican allies.
“Trump feels he has the power to control everything: public opinion, the markets, the bureaucracy and media,” said Basil Smikle, a Columbia University professor and Democratic strategist. “The rank and file become less important to him.”
Voters are leaning towards handing Democrats control of the House of Representatives in the midterm elections, with numbers in the generic ballot mirroring the #BlueWave of 2018 during Trump’s first term. There’s even an outside chance they could win the four GOP Senate seats it would take to grab control of that body.
Political analyst Larry Sabato warned not to count out Trump, who has made a political career out of energizing his base of loyal supporters and overpowering the rest of the political establishment in both parties.
“American democracy is on thin ice and has a president willing to break the ice whenever he desire,” said Sabato, a University of Virginia political scientist. “MAGA will hold him above water so he won’t even get wet.”
The anniversary week came as Minneapolis was still reeling from unrest after the killing of unarmed motorist Renee Nicole Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, which has led to a further erosion in support for Trump’s mass deportation push.
As Trump headed to Davos, Switzerland, European allies and many Americans were angry over Trump’s territorial claim on Greenland and repeated insistence it needed to become part of the United States.
Things got off to an inauspicious start when Air Force One was turned back by mechanical issues. They got worst when he arrived in the tony city in the Swiss Alps, where a crowd of world leaders and titans of industry awaited.
Trump delivered one of his trademark mercurial speeches in which he tripled down on his demand for a takeover of Greenland, which threatened to erode the foundation of the Western military and political alliance.
As U.S. Treasury bonds plunged and NATO allies openly rebelled, though, Trump appeared to back away from his own position that American sovereignty over the Arctic island was a non-negotiable national security requirement.
There did not appear to be any immediate concessions from Greenland or Denmark, which controls the island as a semi-autonomous territory. Trump simply said NATO had agreed to an unspecified “framework of a future deal.”
Then, Trump sought to change the subject to his so-called Board of Peace. Originally billed as a body to oversee the reconstruction of Gaza after the devastating war following the Oct. 7 terror attacks in Israel, it’s been rebranded as a pro-American global body that could implement catchall solutions to world conflicts.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, among other world leaders, declined Trump’s invitation to join the board and instead delivered a powerful speech at Davos where he called on less-powerful nations to chart their own path and to resist geopolitical bullying.
On Friday, Trump responded by informing Carney that his invitation had been revoked.
In other words: you can’t quit, you’re fired.
Apparently, some things never get old for the reality TV star turned president.
