The continuing saga of the White House ballroom is yet another sign that everything Donald Trump touches turns to anything but gold.

Even Republicans avoided a vote on the recent US$1 billion ($1.4 billion) security bill for Trump’s ballroom – leaving the whole project up in the air.

Strength in Numbers, the G. Elliott Morris substack, reports that 68 per cent of respondents oppose spending US$1 billion on the ballroom, 57 per cent oppose it strongly and only 21 per cent support it.

Some 86 per cent of Democrats strongly oppose the spending, while 52 per cent of independents also strongly oppose the plan and 9 per cent somewhat oppose it. Only 20 per cent of Republicans strongly support the plan, with 22 per cent somewhat supporting it.

They all seem to remember that Trump promised the ballroom would be paid for entirely by private donors.

Perhaps more importantly, Republican senators, having serious doubts about the project, have gone into recess without voting on the proposed funding.

Consumer confidence in the Trump administration is also falling. The latest Gallup Economic Confidence Index – a measure of how Americans feel about the economy – has plummeted, with consumer confidence at a negative 45 per cent. It is the third straight drop in a row.

Morris said sentiment was now just below the previous historical trough seen in June 2022.

“The cost of living continues to be a first-order concern, with 57 per cent of consumers spontaneously mentioning that high prices were eroding their personal finances, up from 50 per cent last month”, he said.

“Lower-income consumers and those without college degrees posted particularly strong sentiment declines – these groups are more sensitive to increases in the cost of gas (petrol) and other essentials. Independents and Republicans saw decreases in sentiment, with both groups reaching their lowest readings of the current presidential administration.”

Morris also pointed out that American consumers appear worried that inflation will increase and proliferate beyond fuel prices.

What was particularly relevant to Trump, he said, was that he won the presidency with the support of traditional Democrat supporters. He is now losing them.

Meanwhile, the latest New York Times poll shows that political independents favour Democrats in Congressional races by 18 per cent, and Americans who didn’t vote in the 2024 election now regret it.

Back in 2024, independents split 48-48 between Trump and Kamala Harris. Now Democrat House candidates are leading by 17 per cent.

“For now, the big hidden story in all this new polling is that persuadable Americans of 2024 have turned on Trump and his unpopular agenda, and on Republicans in the race for the House,” Morris said.

He also suggested that the big takeaways from recent polling are – nobody likes Trump and his net rating makes him the most unpopular US president at this point in modern history. He is underwater in roughly 40 states, including big Republican ones such a Georgia, Florida and Texas.

Something totally apparent to everyone, except hard-core MAGA supporters, is that the public is losing confidence in Trump’s mental fitness. More than 60 per cent (including 30 per cent of Republicans) think Trump has become erratic with age and only 45 per cent call him mentally sharp enough for the job.

Pew Research found that only 32 per cent were extremely or very considerably confident that he was “mentally sharp”.

Joe Biden’s ratings on these measures were worse at the same stage, but the trend suggests Trump is catching up.

Trump’s big pitch was on prices and inflation, but he fast losing ground given the Iran war’s impact on petrol prices and affordability.

Morris’ research also showed that 64 per cent of Americans say the war in Iran was not worth the cost and that 48 per cent said the US should never have gone to war in the first place.

Noel Turnbull has had a 50-year-plus career in public relations, politics, journalism and academia

This article first appeared in Pearls and Irritations. Read the original here