American President Donald Trump during an appearance at the White House.Image: keystone
The poor poll numbers and the narrow majority in Congress are affecting the American president. Is this already a revolt?
Feb 13, 2026, 6:34 p.mFeb 13, 2026, 6:34 p.m
He is the uncrowned king of the Republicans. At the beginning of the 2026 election year, Donald Trump continues to dominate his party, which he has set on his populist course over the past ten years. When the president proposes something, it is then approved by the narrow Republican majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives.
Criticism of Trump is only expressed behind closed doors and in an anonymous form. Because many Republican representatives are ultimately afraid of him and his fanatical supporters. Trump is still popular enough with the rank and file of the right-wing party that he can end political careers with the help of virtual interventions. A harshly worded tweet – or “Truth”, as a statement on Trump’s Internet service Truth Social is called – and there is fire under the roof.
It is therefore all the more astonishing when Congress votes against the president in an open vote. This is what happened last week: A bipartisan coalition of 213 Democrats and 6 Republicans spoke out on Wednesday against the punitive tariffs that Donald Trump imposed on imports from Canada on February 1, 2025. The president overstepped his authority and ignored Congress when he imposed these taxes, said one of the Republican dissenters. “I don’t have to support it.”
Trump fights against dissenters
This defeat in the vote probably has no concrete consequences. Even if Democrats and Republicans in the Senate also speak out against the Canada tariffs, Trump can veto this bill and thus overturn it. The President has already announced this. Ultimately, Trump claims that his country is currently experiencing an economic boom only thanks to his tariff policy.
Nevertheless, the result highlights a political problem that will cause Trump a lot of headaches in the election campaign: the majorities that his Republicans have in both chambers of Congress are so small that even a few dissenters can get a bill passed.
For Republican lawmakers who represent a politically competitive district or state, this is an invitation to distinguish themselves. They can make a point if they see, based on opinion polls, that the president is pursuing unpopular causes.
Economic policy is one such field. Trump does not want to acknowledge that the alleged economic explosion that he loves to talk about has not yet significantly changed the everyday lives of many Americans.
Another controversial topic is immigration policy. Here, too, a majority of the population says that Trump is going too far and that his migration police, who hunt down illegal immigrants in cities like Minneapolis, are acting too aggressively. The president responded this week to this resistance, which manifested itself in large demonstrations. Trump announced that almost all federal police officers would be withdrawn from Minneapolis.
Poor poll numbers are weighing on the Republicans
Small revolts against his policies in Congress could increase in the next few months. Because many Republicans, who have to set accents in the 2026 election campaign, are reducing President Trump’s poor poll numbers – around 41 percent of Americans are satisfied with his administration – but their chances of winning on November 3rd. Trump, in turn, will attack these dissenters, as he hates public dissent.
The president could break out of this vicious circle if he listened more often to his critics within the party and followed their advice. But there is little evidence of this so far. Trump is Trump and the king is always right. (aargauerzeitung.ch)