A New Low
5/1/202614 min
April 30, 2026
Trump’s approval rating hits a new low for overall job performance and for handling the economy, Gas prices continue to rise, Iran seems unlikely to open the Strait of Hormuz, Pete Hegseth testifies in front of House and Senate Armed Services Committees, On May 1, under the War Powers Act, Trump must either end the Iran war or get congressional approval, Corruption widens as does incompetence, Florida summarily approves a gerrymandered map, Supreme Court decision in Louisiana v Callais opens door to undercut access to the vote, Louisiana’s governor declares a state of emergency, suspending the primary elections, Other states are considering redistricting in the wake of the Callais decision, Trump worries about the upcoming election.
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsHeather Cox Richardson· Host0:00
[upbeat music] April 30th, 2026. Today, G. Elliott Morris of Strength in Numbers noted that Trump has hit a new low in overall job performance and in his handling of the economy at negative twenty-two point two and negative forty point three respectively. Those numbers reflect the percentage of people who approve of his handling of an issue minus those who disapprove. Indeed, Morris noted that Trump's approval rating on the economy is so low it literally broke the scale of this graph on my data portal. On Tuesday, Morris explained in Strength in Numbers that while Republicans have lately been arguing that they simply need to get people to show up to win the midterms, turnout is not their problem. Their real problem is that voters don't like what Trump is doing. An obvious symbol of Trump's presidency is his unilateral decision to tear down the East Wing of the White House and replace it with a giant ballroom. A new Washington Post-ABC News/Ipsos poll released today shows that Americans oppose the ballroom by a margin of about two to one. Fifty-six percent of Americans oppose it, while only twenty-eight percent support it.