Might he try persuasion instead?
By MAX BOOT
Washington Post
August 24, 2026
Whatever else you may say about him, President Donald Trump is a consummate salesman. As former House speaker Newt Gingrich once noted to me, the former real estate tycoon did a brilliant job with his campaign slogan: It wasn’t “Trump for President”; it was “Make America Great Again.” Despite his outsize ego, he kept the focus on the country, not on his own ambition. But Trump’s normally deft marketing touch has deserted him during his second term.
In the CNN Poll of Polls, 36 percent approved of his job performance, while 63 percent disapproved. That’s far below the historical average for presidents. He is even more unpopular abroad — and international disapproval of the president has translated into disapproval of the country he leads. A Pew Research Center poll of 36 countries, conducted earlier this summer, found that 76 percent of respondents had “no confidence” in Trump and 57 percent had an unfavorable opinion of the United States. In most of the countries Pew surveyed, people had a more positive impression of China than of the U.S.
There are many factors that explain the collapse of Trump’s support — he has, after all, pursued unnecessary and unsuccessful policies, ranging from trade wars to his actual war with Iran, that have exacerbated voters’ concerns about “affordability.” What makes it all worse is that Trump makes almost no attempt to win over either domestic or foreign audiences to his views. Instead of cajoling or convincing, he tries to coerce and compel others to do what he wants.
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