Earlier this month, I texted a close childhood friend after it became clear that the Trump administration would not promote the return of Kilma Abreg Garcia from the giant El Salvador prison. He has voted for Donald Trump in the past three presidential elections and I asked him to evaluate. My friend replied: "Trump may go too far." He added: "But again, he is a person with action and we want to change."
One day in the future, historians may point out that April 2025 is the first sign of lasting erosion of Donald Trump's popular support. In the first week of the month, the United States witnessed another massive eviction of federal workers, in which case several health agencies, followed by tariffs, allowing 401(k)s to emit six flags of log sinks. Even with some rebounds in stocks, the feedback from riders to the president is not great: the polls have not yet declined with overall support for Trump, with many voters citing economic uncertainty. Trump's figures about immigration, long-standing power, have also begun to slip. Another recent survey shows that Trump has the lowest approval rate for any newly elected president in at least 70 years.
But even as Trump’s critics cheer for the obvious inner change among some of his supporters, they face the reality of inconvenience: Many of his voters are rejoicing. For these happy millions, the first 100 days of Trump's second presidency were a fulfilling campaign promise and brought the country not to the cliff of economic destruction or democratic collapse, but to the great golden age. Based on my conversations with several Trump supporters and pollsters in recent days, they believe Trump has ushered in a new era of action. “Even if they don’t agree with everything he does, he’s doing something, and it’s better than nothing,” Rich Thau, president of the nonpartisan qualitative research firm.
Despite a series of shocking deportation stories - Abrego Garcia; Venezuelan makeup artist; Honduran children with stage 4 cancer - many Trump voters believe that the president's handling of immigration is a highlight. The new government said that ICE has conducted 66,000 deportations so far, a slower rate than previous governments, but this is partly due to the lower historical border crossings.
"It's a night difference," Ben Cadet, a 24-year-old college student from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, told me. The trainees voted for Joe Biden in 2020 but turned to Trump in 2024, partly because he felt the Democrats were moving too far to the left, partly because he thought Biden had simply not done enough to address illegal immigration. He said Trump's "action immediately is my appreciation for Democrats." He told me that in the early days of the new administration, trainees often called friends to discuss Trump's executive orders on immigration, foreign policy and the "cultural war." The two joked that they should cancel their Netflix subscription and listen to Trump instead, “because it’s fun to watch everything he does.”
Thau holds a focus group for swing voters every month who support Biden in 2020 and Trump in 2024, and he told me that half of the participants in any given group can’t say what Biden has achieved in the office. For many of them, the past 100 days (including Trump’s deportation, as well as his tariffs, votes to execute orders, college shakedowns and targeting the political media) seem to “be compared to people before, they have considered a lot of activities,” they have considered that they are old, unstable, and not responsible. "I see a lot of politicians running and say a lot of things they want to do, and they aren't doing anything. "A woman named Mary told Thau in one of his recent focus groups (Thau only identifies participants by his name). "But I saw him, I agreed. ”
If Democrats want to win their voters who lose to Trump, it will help them understand his appeal first. It seems to be the pride of the working class project, a series of focus groups recently formed by Super PAC American Bridge in the 21st century trying to understand why working-class voters left the Democratic Party. In a recent focus group, a Latino voter in New Jersey described his feelings in this way: “Trump just put his feet down and whatever he says it will happen.” My own interview reflects similar emotions. “How many presidents are trying to implement what they say they are going to accomplish instead of carrying it?” Timothy Hance, 34, of the Manufacturing Commission in Ottumwa, Iowa, told me.
For some Trump voters, taking action this year has made them willing to indulge in more dictatorial impulses. According to the new CBS poll, self-identified magazine Republicans generally say it is mistaken for "acceptable", which is twice as good as Americans. Although most of the Trump supporters I interviewed are not eager to sentence convicted American citizens to prison in another country, as Trump has suggested, a voter likes the idea. "They are criminals. If we can't kill them, then the humane thing is that we send them away." (He also suggested that Trump should order farming to be deported through a court order of "activist judges." "Like, do that," Hans said. "Ignore them.")
For many Americans who are happy now, Trump’s tariffs represent another exciting paradigm shift. "The dream of globalism is gradually growing," Joe Marazzo, 29, of Jacksonville, Florida, told me. "This may not work, but at least we are trying something." Of course, the president has retreated from his initial plan to huge import taxes on 90 countries, including winged people in Heard Island and McDonald's Islands. But the still high tariffs on Chinese goods are an important course correction that deserve any discomfort they may cause, some Trump supporters say. "It takes a year. You can't build a car factory in two days," Jerry Helmer, chairman of the Republican Party of Sauk County, Wisconsin, told me. Theodore John Fitzgerald, head of a pro-Trump grassroots group in Lucerne County, Pennsylvania, compared the short-term pain of tariffs to ramen noodles at college, or switch to a healthier diet. “I have diabetes,” Fitzgerald told me. “There is a little bit of pain and pain to make sure I don’t lose any toes again.”
Trump's most determined defender admits to me that they may reassess their loyalty if the upcoming trade war makes their living costs unavailable. However, others say they find it difficult to even understand such a red line. “My hobby is hot bubble,” Hans, from Iowa, told me with a smile. He will reconsider his support for Trump, “if banned.”
Of course, Trump and his Republican allies are unable to appeal only to their most enthusiastic supporters. Not everyone is interested in the belt insertion that tariffs may require. Overall, Americans are not satisfied with the country's economy, and 59% of the public now say a CNN survey released by Trump on Monday showed. “Even people who like him and think he has a good idea tell us that they hope they don’t have to pay a lot on tariffs,” Margie Omero, a poll by GBAO, a democratic research firm, told me. In a recent focus group, Omero voted for Trump in the 2024 election, with most participants giving Presidents B or C, although none regretting their vote.
With Trump presidency about 1,300 days left, many of his critics hope his recent approval marks a turning point, such as the evacuation point from Afghanistan, which inspired Biden’s self-proclaimed public respect. Omero told me that communication is the key to keeping Trump unpopular. "Some voters still don't get information about Trump's actions," she said. Omero believes that many Americans believe that Trump is too radical about using executive power, and in order to defeat him and his political allies, Trump's opponents need to help more Americans understand that "what he has done is unprecedented and is violating the court."
Omero is right, and many Americans may not pay much attention to Trump’s first 100 days details. But if they end up tuned in, some of them would also like what they heard, and that's also true.