Image: keystone
analysis
With his chaotic politics, the US president frustrates young people, blacks, Hispanics – and even the MAGA base.
Feb 18, 2026, 12:06 p.mFeb 18, 2026, 12:06 p.m
Example 1: On his Late Night Show on Monday, Stephen Colbert interviewed James Talarico, a rising star in the American political sky. In response to the Christian nationalists, he has a good chance of becoming a Democratic senator from Texas because he is both religious and liberal and can convey this authentically.
Losing a Senate seat in Texas would be a moderate catastrophe for Republicans. That’s why the Trump administration immediately pulled out all the stops to prevent the Talarico interview, using the pretext that all candidates had to be given equal airtime.
Stephen Colbert (left) and James Talarico.Image: keystone
The TV station CBS, the parent of Colbert’s show, is now owned by the pro-Trump tech oligarch Larry Ellison and is managed by his son David. That’s why the interview with Talarico was not broadcast live. But Colbert resorted to a ruse: he put it on YouTube. Within a short time there were more than three million viewers.
“If I had shown it on the show, no one would have watched,” Colbert joked the next day. In addition, the affair is now making headlines across the country. Talarico couldn’t have dreamed of better PR.
Example 2: Mark Kelly is already a senator for the state of Arizona. He is also a war hero, having flown multiple missions as a fighter jet pilot in Iraq and traveling in space as an astronaut. Together with a few other Democratic MPs, Kelly made a video clip to remind members of the American armed forces that they can, and indeed must, refuse illegal orders.
This angered Trump and his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth so much that they wanted to drag Kelly in front of the police and at the same time demote him after his retirement. Both went terribly wrong. A judge appointed by Trump laughed at Hegseth and the conservative Wall Street Journal criticized him sharply. Kelly, on the other hand, is now considered a hot Democratic presidential candidate for 2028.
Former astronaut Mark Kelly.Image: keystone
Okay, these may be just two anecdotes, but they highlight a problem in the Grand Old Party (GOP) that is worsening almost daily, which Thomas Edsall points out in the New York Times as follows: “President Trump appears determined to prevent his party from achieving a lasting majority coalition.”
The same fear is spreading across the right-wing spectrum. Edsall also quotes Rich Lowry, editor-in-chief of the conservative magazine National Review, as saying: “His (Trump’s) poll numbers are plummeting. Likewise, approval of his politics. (…) It is difficult to imagine another example of a president who turned positive momentum into negative so quickly. Trump did this literally within days.”
In November 2024, Trump won the election because he was able to build a coalition of frustrated workers, youth, blacks and Hispanics. However, with his chaotic politics he is about to blow up this coalition.
The boys are disappointed
In 2024, representatives of Generation Z were able to go to the polls for the first time. Most of them had only hazy memories of Trump’s chaotic first term and had no experience in politics. Many were simply disappointed with Joe Biden’s economic policies. That’s why Trump was able to collect an above-average number of votes in this segment, which normally has a majority of Democratic voters.
In the meantime, however, the mood among Generation Z has changed again. They feel first-hand that their economic situation has not improved and in some cases has even worsened. Trump was unable to keep his campaign promises. That’s why they turn away from him. “This suggests that Trump did not own these voters, but rather just rented them,” notes Sarah Longewell in the “Atlantic.”
Blacks and Hispanics are turning away
Trump also scored above average in these two voter segments in 2024, because both blacks and Hispanics were tired of being viewed by the Democrats as safe values whose votes you no longer have to work hard to win.
However, the tide has now turned again. “Trump’s popularity has fallen by 13 percent among blacks and by 14 percent among Hispanics,” notes Edsall.
As with boys, the affordability crisis plays a role. Trump’s distribution of videos in which the Obamas are portrayed as monkeys is unlikely to help black people. Meanwhile, the brutal actions of the immigration police ICE are repelling Hispanics.
An example from Texas shows how great the discontent there is now: In order to win an additional five seats in the House of Representatives in the midterm elections, Trump demanded that Texas redistribute the electoral districts. This so-called gerrymandering now threatens to become a boomerang. Because Hispanics are so frustrated, the supposedly safe seats could even go to the Democrats.
AI offends MAGA
Without artificial intelligence, the American economy would currently be significantly weaker. That’s why Trump is doing everything he can to keep his tech oligarchs happy. He doesn’t want any laws that could restrict Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos & Co. or prevent power-guzzling data centers from springing up like mushrooms.
Among the MAGA base, however, the love for AI is manageable. The Financial Times reports that dissatisfaction with AI is spreading even in the deep red state of Louisiana. The reason is rising electricity prices and a dull fear of the excesses of AI. “Survey after survey shows that a growing portion of Trump’s base no longer agrees with his policies,” according to the Financial Times.
The unconditional fulfillment of all the wishes of the Tech Bros is questioned even by ultra-conservative governors. In Florida, Ron DeSantis classifies the excesses of AI as very dangerous, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Trump’s former press secretary and current governor of Arkansas, wants to break with her former boss on this issue, as does Spencer Cox, governor of Utah.
The Justice Department’s transparent efforts to prevent the Epstein affair from being investigated are also damaging the president. For late night comedians like Colbert, on the other hand, they come up with new and biting sayings every day, such as this one: Trump is mentioned more in the Epstein files than God is in the Bible.