Overview
- Year-end polling shows confidence in Trump’s economic management at 40% or lower, with Gallup placing overall job approval near 36%, strengthening Democrats’ midterm prospects.
- Sweeping tariffs have driven the effective U.S. rate above 18% and raised consumer costs, with courts, including the Supreme Court, signaling skepticism toward the use of emergency powers to impose them.
- The immigration crackdown produced historic lows in border crossings and about 500,000 deportations in 2025, yet surveys report eroding support among Latinos and young voters.
- A federal judge temporarily barred the government from arresting or detaining Imran Ahmed pending a hearing, highlighting mounting legal challenges to punitive actions against critics.
- The administration’s expansion of unilateral power—spanning inspector general firings, a steep civil-service shrinkage of roughly 317,000 departures, and 29 lethal strikes on suspected drug boats that killed about 105 people—is encountering institutional pushback that could curb its reach in 2026.