The president is still dancing: Donald Trump on Friday at an event in Florida.Image: keystone
Six months before the general election, Republicans’ dissatisfaction with the US President is increasing. Our correspondent asked the party base.
05/06/2026, 05:5605/06/2026, 05:56
Renzo Ruf, Jonesville
Jesse Green is a true Trump voter. The conservative lawyer works for the Family Foundation, which “advocates for families in Kentucky and the values of the Bible,” as can be read on the nonprofit organization’s website. Green voted for Donald Trump twice, and if the 26-year-old was a few months older, he would have supported the current president in 2016 too.
But now the young man is disappointed. About the economic situation and about the Republican Party, which broke its election promises. «I want to own a house. I want to start a family,” he says. But at the moment it’s not financially feasible.
“Everything is so outrageously expensive.”
“The future doesn’t look good”
Green also blames the president for this development. During the 2024 election campaign, Trump promised to focus on domestic policy in his next term and to avoid military adventures abroad, as Green recalls. The Republican also inspired many young voters.
Jesse Green is a conservative activist from KentuckyImage: zvg
Then, barely in office, “his government started a new war and bombed a new country,” Iran. Because the USA cannot financially afford such interventions, the Iran war is being fought on the shoulders of young Americans, says Green.
“The future of young people doesn’t look good at the moment.”
Green expresses this surprisingly open criticism of the president in a place where Trump is still celebrated like a folk hero: at a party organized by a local section of the Republican Party in the lovely hills of Kentucky, far from the nearest big city. Here you are actually among yourself; In the small Owen County district, Trump was supported by more than 80 percent of voters in November 2024.
But of course die-hard Republicans can also read opinion polls. And these paint a bleak picture. The Trump party faces a debacle in the general election in six months. Many voters are dissatisfied with the president. Since the beginning of the Iran war Trump’s approval ratings fell below the 40 percent mark nationwide. Americans have never rated the president so negatively in his second term.
“What’s the point of messing with Donald Trump?”
At the Republican festival in a converted barn, punctuated by prayers, patriotic music, politicians’ speeches and a barbecue, criticism of the president can also be heard in committed discussions.
Although: Criticism is too strong a word, as Trump has many fans at the grassroots level. Green also still supports the president. So “objections” might be a better fit. And even these concerns are often only expressed in code. A man mentions a non-partisan acquaintance who recently complained about rising gasoline prices. He nods in agreement. A woman talks about a neighbor who complained that every visit to a restaurant puts a hole in her wallet. That’s true, she says.
Felicia Rabourn, a conservative local parliamentarian, has it easier. The 35-year-old emphasized right at the beginning of the conversation with the foreign journalist that she was only repeating reservations about Trump “that I received directly from my voters.” She doesn’t want to expose herself.
Felicia Rabourn is a Republican representative in Kentucky.Image: zvg
The list Rabourn presents is still surprisingly long. Some people in her rural constituency said the president “could do more” — a reference to unfulfilled economic policy promises. Others are fed up with American tax money flowing abroad. There was also recently a picture on social media in which the president was depicted as if he was mocking Jesus Christ, says Rabourn.
“This was met with much disapproval among the religious people I represent.”
However, she does not reveal her personal opinion about this controversy and all the other debates that Trump starts almost every day. Ultimately, the local politician wants to be re-elected. Instead, Rabourn says:
“What’s the point of messing with Donald Trump?”
Massie jokes about virtual Trump attacks
In Kentucky, this is not a rhetorical question. The representative who represents Owen County in the House of Representatives in Washington is Thomas Massie. He is one of the last Republican officeholders in the capital who publicly opposes the president with a certain regularity – Massie criticizes the Iran war in sharp words.
For months he has also been demanding the publication of all investigative files on the deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. “I can’t agree with the president when his government protects pedophiles,” he likes to say.
At the Republican party festival, Massie is one of the guests of honor and gives a humorous speech. The 55-year-old even jokes about Trump, who often insults him online. After introducing his wife, Massie says with a laugh: “I’m not the only one attacked by the president. She has already been attacked twice.”
In a conversation with CH Media, however, it quickly becomes clear that there is also a red line for Massie that the engineer and state critic does not want to cross. So he avoids direct criticism of Donald Trump as a person. Instead, the MP emphasizes that the president is popular in his constituency. He also emphasizes that he supports Trump in nine out of ten votes in the House of Representatives.
Representative Thomas Massie in the House of Representatives in Washington.Image: keystone
But that is not enough for the president. That’s why he wants to send Massie into early retirement: In the primaries, which are scheduled for mid-May, Trump is supporting one of the MP’s internal party opponents. Polls predict a close race.
Massie says: His candidacy for an eighth term is not directed against Trump. Instead, Massie criticizes “the entire government,” which has thrown out all the important positions with which the Republicans will return to power in 2025. These election promises are popular among his voters. And because as a member of parliament he does not work for the president, he is now committed to ensuring that the promises are implemented.
“We’ll see if this works,” says Massie. He doesn’t seem to be entirely sure. But his message was well received at the party festival in Owen County – perhaps because Massie showed Republicans how to emancipate themselves from an overpowering figure like Trump. In any case, the party members present gave him warm applause.
His opponent in the primaries has since apologized. (aargauerzeitung.ch)