"It is his tone which they share - angry, populist, nationalist; a tone of grievance."
Whether Mr Trump's actual record at home is littered with failure or studded with success depends on where one stands in America's toxic divide.
Allegations of possible collusion with Russia by key figures in his campaign team continue to be the focus of a probe by a special counsel - which many in the opposition are hoping will produce evidence that may open the door to an impeachment attempt. This week, the first indictments from the probe were filed and new ones are rumoured to be on the way, perhaps within days. Mr Trump has called the allegations a witch hunt, but cannot quite shake off the cloud over his administration.
His pugnacious style has also stoked controversy, and has Republicans themselves worried.
Mr Trump picked a fight with National Football League celebrity players who knelt rather than stood for the pre-game national anthem to protest continued racial injustice. He drew anger from liberals for seemingly equivocating over violence in Charlottesville in August involving white supremacists - a group clearly emboldened by his rise and rhetoric, analysts say.
On the legislative front, Mr Trump has yet to score any victory. He failed to achieve a signature campaign promise to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare. It did not pass the Senate for lack of support, even from within his own Republican party.
Mr Trump is currently coercing and cajoling Congress to approve tax reforms aimed largely at lowering corporate taxes to make America more competitive. Democrats insist they cannot support tax cuts that benefit the rich. Mr Trump calls them obstructionist. Nevertheless, Republicans hope they will manage to pass the reforms by the end of this month.
He often emphasises - usually through tweeting, his preferred mode of communication - that he is keeping to his campaign promises.
On Oct 21, he tweeted: "Stock Market hits another all time high… 5.3 trillion dollars up since Election. Fake News doesn't spent (sic) much time on this!"
"Perhaps no Administration has done more in its first 9 months than this Administration," he continued.
Mr Trump has, over the past year, ruled mostly by executive action, signing several such measures - often with great publicity - to roll back the legacy of his predecessor, Mr Barack Obama, to the dismay of his critics.