That’s even as an increasing number of voters report a different reality in their lives.
But with few exceptions, the Trump lieutenants who lead the GOP’s political strategy have no desire to challenge his wishes or beliefs.
“Republicans are entering next year more unified behind President Trump than ever before,” Republican National Committee spokesperson Kiersten Pels said. “The party is fully aligned behind his America First agenda and the results he’s delivering for the American people. President Trump’s policies are popular, he drives turnout, and standing with him is the strongest path to victory.”
Trump’s approval is similar to former Presidents Barack Obama, a Democrat, and George W. Bush, a Republican, at the same point in their terms, however. Their parties had major losses in midterm elections.
Since the election, the White House has quietly decided to shift its message to focus more on affordability.
In a social media post Friday, Trump said costs are “tumbling down.”
“Affordability is a lie when used by the Dems. It is a complete CON JOB,” Trump wrote. “Thanksgiving costs are 25% lower this year than last, under Crooked Joe! We are the Party of Affordability!”
Economic worries were the dominant concern for voters in this month’s elections, according to the AP Voter Poll.
Republican strategist Doug Heye said Trump’s approach is not necessarily helpful for the Republican Party or its candidates, who already face a difficult political environment in 2026 when voters will decide the balance of power in Congress. Historically, the party occupying the White House has significant losses in nonpresidential elections.
“Republicans need to relay to voters that they understand what they’re going through and that they’re trying to fix it,” Heye said. “That can be hard to do when the president takes a nonmetaphorical wrecking ball to portions of the White House, which distract so much of Washington and the media.”
“Candidates cannot afford to be distracted,” Heye added. “As we saw in the recent elections, especially in Virginia, if you’re not talking about what voters are talking about, they will tune you out.”
The reality outside Washington suggests that not every Republican candidate shares Trump’s outlook.
New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, a House Republican leader who began a campaign for governor last week, said there is no question about the top issue for her constituents: affordability. She also played down her party’s focus on conservative cultural priorities, including transgender athletes, which was a top Republican focus in the recent Virginia governor’s race.
“Certainly I support women and girls sports and protecting them, but as you see in all of our messaging, we’re focused on the top issues, which every conversation with voters is about the high taxes and spending, the unaffordability,” Stefanik told The Associated Press.
She offered a nuanced perspective on Trump’s leadership, unwilling to criticize any of his major policies or governing decisions, but also unwilling to say her party is fully unified behind him.
“My sense is our party is fully united behind firing Kathy Hochul,” Stefanik said of New York’s Democratic governor, when asked about her party’s support for Trump. “I am laser focused on delivering for New Yorkers and putting New Yorkers first.”
While Stefanik said it is important for the governor to have “an effective working relationship” with Trump, she declined to say whether she would support a hypothetical Trump move to send the National Guard to New York City, as he has threatened. “It wouldn’t need to happen if there was a Republican governor,” she said.
Stefanik’s comments reflect the challenge ahead for Republican candidates running in a challenging political terrain.
The Republican National Committee, which serves as the political arm of Trump’s White House, issued a series of talking points that shrug off the recent election losses as a byproduct of Democratic voter advantage in the states where the top races played out.
The talking points, obtained by The Associated Press, ignore Republican losses in Georgia and Pennsylvania. They also overstate Trump’s political strength, claiming that he is more popular than Obama and Bush were at the same time in their tenures.
The claim has been echoed across conservative media in recent days.
An AP polling analysis finds that Trump’s approval is not higher than Obama’s or of Bush at a similar point in their second terms.
For Obama and Bush, their parties had big losses in the midterm elections that followed.
The Republican messaging crafted by Trump’s team, however, doubles down on supporting the president and his policies.
The recent elections “were not a referendum on President Trump, Republicans in Congress, or the MAGA Agenda,” the RNC talking points state. To win in 2026, “Make America Great Again” voters “will need to show up at the ballot box; President Trump and Republicans are going to make that happen.”
