{"id":2597130,"date":"2026-04-30T12:09:02","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T16:09:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-pollster-gop-must-stop-running-against-itself-and-go-on-offense\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T12:10:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T16:10:24","slug":"trump-pollster-gop-must-stop-running-against-itself-and-go-on-offense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-pollster-gop-must-stop-running-against-itself-and-go-on-offense\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump pollster: GOP must stop running against itself and go on offense"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftrump-pollster-gop-must-stop-running-against-itself-and-go-on-offense%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2597130&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Thursday\u2019s *washington Secrets* looks at why the upcoming midterm elections will be challenging for Republicans and what they would need to do to improve their prospects.<\/p>\n<p>John McLaughlin, donald Trump\u2019s pollster, argues that economics-especially the lingering impact of the prior inflation era-remains the dominant issue for voters. He also says turnout is a key problem: Trump supporters came out massively for 2024, but haven\u2019t returned at the same rate in 2025 special elections and so far this year, making it harder for Republicans to build a winning coalition.<\/p>\n<p>McLaughlin notes that Trump\u2019s job approval has risen slightly, but Republicans haven\u2019t effectively capitalized on it. He frames this as a strategic failure: Democrats are encouraging voters to view the election as a referendum on the economy and inflation,while Republicans are still \u201cplaying defense\u201d rather than running a contrast campaign.<\/p>\n<p>He points to opportunities Republicans could use-contrasting Democrat positions on affordability, immigration-related policies, and taxes-with an election theme grounded in growth, protection, and national security. He also argues Republicans hinder themselves when the president proposes popular ideas but they don\u2019t get passed, and he describes Democrats under Chuck Schumer as disciplined in blocking positive moves.<\/p>\n<p>On outcomes, McLaughlin says Democrats currently have an edge but Republicans are favored to win the Senate, with time still left to change the race. he concludes that breaking the midterm \u201cjinx\u201d will likely depend on shifting from defense to offence by delivering a clear economic message and a stronger,more unified contrast against Democrats.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p><strong><em>Welcome to Thursday\u2019s Washington Secrets with a look inside how the White House might be approaching the midterm elections. John McLaughlin, Donald Trump\u2019s pollster, runs us through some of his latest numbers (which have a positive take on Trump\u2019s approval rating), and he sets out what the president and Republicans can do to improve what will be a difficult showing in November \u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Secrets<\/em>: What are the issues that will decide the election?<\/strong><\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/washington-secrets\/4547402\/will-trump-hear-king-subtle-message-restraint-comey\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Will Trump hear the king\u2019s subtle message on restraint? Ask Comey<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/washington-secrets\/4545469\/inside-hottest-garden-party-king-charles-visit\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Inside the hottest party in town as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/inside-the-hottest-party-in-town-as-royal-mania-takes-over-washington\/\" title=\"Inside the hottest party in town as royal mania takes over ...\">royal mania takes<\/a> over Washington<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/washington-secrets\/4545473\/mike-johnson-king-charles-speech-congress-will-be-unifying-event\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Mike Johnson says King Charles\u2019s speech to Congress will be a \u2018unifying event\u2019<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><strong>John McLaughlin<\/strong>: The economic issues are the most important national issues right now. The hangover from the Biden <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/inflation\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/inflation\/\">inflation <\/a>of the last four years is still defining the concerns for the average American. This month, our poll found 45% of voters said economic issues.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p><strong>What is the challenge for Republicans?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>McLaughlin<\/strong>: The key thing is, the presidential election in 2024 had 155 million voters coming out, and we got 77 million. Through most of 2025 and in the special elections so far this year, the Trump voters haven\u2019t come back out at the levels that they came out in 2024. So it\u2019s a real challenge for the Republicans that they haven\u2019t found a way to bring Trump voters back out.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How do Trump\u2019s approval numbers play into this?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>McLaughlin<\/strong>: The president\u2019s job approval went up a couple of points this month. We ask the question the way we did in the campaign: Do you agree with both his personality and his policies, or just support his policies? If you ask that, then 49% approve, and you [get] 46% disapproval [for] both. But those numbers peaked on Election Day in 2024 because we had a campaign. Now the president\u2019s working at the presidency. He\u2019s accomplishing a great deal, but the Republicans haven\u2019t capitalized on that, and they need to. If I\u2019m a Democrat, you know, I\u2019d be concerned about the Republicans actually moving the agenda, from playing defense about Trump and their agenda, what they\u2019ve gotten done or what not gotten done, versus a contrast election. They\u2019ve got to run a contrast campaign.<\/p>\n<p>Prior to the Iran war, the president had laid out a very good contrast in a very good State of the Union, where Democrats couldn\u2019t side with Americans about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bidens-dhs-chief-sanctuary-country-orders-ensure-majority-of-illegal-aliens-not-deported\/\" title=\"Biden&#039;s DHS Chief: Sanctuary Country Orders Ensure &#039;Majority&#039; of Illegal Aliens Not Deported\">deporting criminal illegal aliens<\/a>, they couldn\u2019t side with Americans on tax cuts, and they disagree with the SAVE Act \u2026 which would require proof of citizenship to vote, something supported by 80% of Americans, but Republicans in the Senate can\u2019t get it passed. So it\u2019s creating a gap between Trump voters and people who are coming out this year.<\/p>\n<p>Trump won\u2019t be on the ballot. So they need to have a contrast with the Democrats. Other Democrats can say [they\u2019re] for affordability, when every one of them voted for a tax hike last year, when they voted to kill the Trump tax cuts. They\u2019ve got to run a contrast campaign.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What do Republicans need from Trump?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>McLaughlin<\/strong>: He needs a solid contrast with Democrats, probably a new reconciliation bill this year to push for more economic growth. But Republicans are their own worst enemies in that the president proposes very popular ideas, then they don\u2019t get them done. It shouldn\u2019t be that way<\/p>\n<p>Under <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/chuck-schumer\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/chuck-schumer\/\">Chuck Schumer<\/a>, the Democrats have got a discipline of just trying to stop us from anything that\u2019s positive. They shut down the government, which put some sand in the engine of economic growth. They back Jerome Powell, who\u2019s been <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >keeping interest rates artificially high<\/a>, which again hurt the economic growth in the country.<\/p>\n<p>So I mean, President Trump, all the good that he\u2019s trying to do, he\u2019s got a real hardcore nemesis in Chuck Schumer, who\u2019s not popular. He\u2019s 32% favorable, 46% unfavorable. So he needs to focus on that.<\/p>\n<p><strong>So who is going to win the House and who will win the Senate?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>McLaughlin<\/strong>: There\u2019s still a lot of time left. Right now, the Democrats have the edge, but Republicans are favored to win the Senate. There\u2019s still plenty of time and lots of critical issues got to be addressed and plenty of debates that have to be had.<\/p>\n<p>The last time the Republicans broke the midterm jinx, it was in 2002, and I was working for the RNC. We were able to get out a good, positive message about economic growth. And President Bush was able to keep the country united as he was dealing with the aftermath of 9\/11.<\/p>\n<p>President Trump certainly faces very similar challenges. But if he can be successful with economic growth and with protecting Americans, you know, at a time when national security is top of mind, he could be also successful and break that same jinx. The missing part of the equation right now is that we\u2019re playing defense, running against ourselves. We need to play offense and draw a contrast with the Democrats.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-quote-of-the-day\">Quote of the day<\/h2>\n<p>And this is why McLaughlin\u2019s comments are useful. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/live-updates\/2026\/04\/30\/congress\/koch-americans-for-prosperity-worries-republican-senate-majority-00899307\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/live-updates\/2026\/04\/30\/congress\/koch-americans-for-prosperity-worries-republican-senate-majority-00899307\"><em>Politico<\/em> scoops <\/a>that a major Republican super PAC is warning the Senate majority is at risk.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cAs it stands today, our view is that the Republican Senate majority is at risk,\u201d <\/strong>AFP senior adviser Emily Seidel and Executive Director Nathan Nascimento write.<strong> \u201cOur internal polling in several battleground states and one-on-one conversations with voters show that for the first time, Democrats are more trusted on the economy and inflation.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-lunchtime-reading\">Lunchtime reading<\/h2>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/style\/2026\/04\/29\/kennedy-center-closure-matt-floca-lawsuits\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/style\/2026\/04\/29\/kennedy-center-closure-matt-floca-lawsuits\/\"><strong>New Kennedy Center leader tells judge two-year closure is critical<\/strong><\/a>: The roof is failing, concrete has been shored up to stop it from falling on workers, and water has penetrated vaults housing electrical circuits. Matt Floca, The Kennedy Center\u2019s new executive director, testified about why the cultural center has to close for two years.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/news\/2026\/04\/29\/genesis-king-triumphant-speech-washington\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/news\/2026\/04\/29\/genesis-king-triumphant-speech-washington\/\"><strong>The genesis of the King\u2019s triumphant speech in Washington<\/strong><\/a>: \u201cThose <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/powerful-anti-trump-media-figures-exposed-holding-secret-weekly-meetings-to-coordinate-on-legal-cases\/\" title=\"Influential Media Personalities Unveiled in Covert Weekly Legal Meetings\">carefully chosen words<\/a> were crafted and recrafted by a team of skilled speechwriters, which is believed to have included Sir Clive Alderton, the King\u2019s private secretary and most senior aide at Buckingham Palace; Sir Christian Turner, the United Kingdom\u2019s ambassador to the United States; and Tobyn Andreae, director of communications for the king and queen. Helpfully, Turner\u2019s deputy, James Roscoe, is also well versed in royal protocol and speeches, having worked as the late Queen Elizabeth II\u2019s communications secretary between 2013 and 2016.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong><strong><em>You are reading <\/em>Washington Secrets<em>, a guide to power and politics in D.C. and beyond. It is written by Rob Crilly, who you can reach at <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/l\/email-protection#5320363021362720132432203b3a3d34273c3d362b323e3a3d36217d303c3e\"><span class=\"__cf_email__\" data-cfemail=\"40332523322534330037213328292e27342f2e2538212d292e25326e232f2d\">[email\u00a0protected]<\/span><\/a> with your comments, story tips, and suggestion<\/em><\/strong><em><strong>s. If a friend sent you this and you\u2019d like to sign up, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"http:\/\/click1.trk-washingtonexaminer.com\/xprvgynrhhctscghtpnrptnqlrtypjmjlkrlcnpvhgpdcr_jtjrvfbrrsmwbqmnsbmvsv.html?a=Washington+Secrets+Lara+Trump&#038;b=01%2F21%2F2026&#038;c=WEX_Washington+Secrets&#038;d=25812206&#038;e=da31c45955c9411a6c40ecd0e967fa8def1f0fc08362faaa0dee09386ff5c41b\">click here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome to Thursday\u2019s Washington Secrets on the White House\u2019s midterm strategy and Trump\u2019s poll numbers<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4136,"featured_media":2597131,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AP26119673574409.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[32319,6203,5894],"class_list":["post-2597130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-donald-trump","tag-gop","tag-politics"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AP26119673574409.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2597130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2597130"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2597130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2597134,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2597130\/revisions\/2597134"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2597131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2597130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2597130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2597130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}