Why is it so hard to stop Donald Trump? [View all]

Why is it so hard to stop Donald Trump?
More than ever, we need to understand the reasons for his political survival

By Chauncey DeVega
Senior Writer
Published September 13, 2025 6:45AM (EDT)


(Salon) Americans are in a sour political mood. Despite a soaring stock market, the economy is suffering because of President Donald Trump’s tariffs and other policies. Inflation has increased. The job market is anemic. Youth unemployment is 10.5%, which is double the national rate. More Americans are afraid of losing their jobs. Debt is increasing. The housing market is slowing. Economists are warning about a severe recession and “stagflation.”

Trump is losing support among key parts of his winning 2024 coalition, including Hispanics, African-Americans, young people, independents and first-time voters. Traditional Republican voters and right-wing-leaning independents are increasingly concerned about his agenda. His support is apparently eroding in the battleground states that were key to his victory in 2024. There are even reports, however anecdotal, that farmers — a group that has consistently supported him — are beginning to abandon him. Republican candidates are losing special elections. Most Americans believe the country is headed in the wrong direction. A majority views Trump as a threat to democracy and wishes he would govern with more restraint.

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The president’s political end has never come. He has always emerged from scandals, controversies and trials even more popular among his MAGA followers — and many other Americans as well. Nearly nine months into his second term, which has seen him follow through on his autocratic “shock and awe” campaign to remake America in his image, his approval ratings have remained steady, hovering around 41 to 45 percent.

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But there are other explanations for the president’s endurance against the odds.

Trump’s “law and order” theater, which has included mass deportations and threats to “invade” Democrat-led cities and blue states, are more popular than many in the news media, political class and general public would like to believe. If “the cruelty is the point,” as The Atlantic’s Adam Serwer so memorably wrote, there is a big audience for it in America. .................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2025/09/13/why-is-it-so-hard-to-stop-donald-trump/