Rattled markets, negative polls: Trump’s honeymoon is over

WASHINGTON – After only seven weeks back in the White House, President Donald Trump is facing stock markets roiled by his volatile trade policy, consumers exhausted by stubbornly high prices, and general unease about the power of his adviser, billionaire Elon Musk.

Mr Musk’s efforts to dismantle the federal bureaucracy as the nominal head of the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), with mass firings that have sparked legal battles, have created a sense of chaos around Trump’s second administration.

And even if the 78-year-old Republican’s base is generally happy with his moves on immigration and national security, the Trump train is wobbling on the rails, and experts say he needs to pivot to voters’ basic concerns.

“He still has momentum and still commands the public stage,” Professor Julian Zelizer, who teaches history at Princeton University, said.

“But he needs to refocus on policies that will boost the economy rather than the chaos of Doge and haphazard tariff policies.”

Mr Trump hardly mentioned trade or inflation during his

lengthy speech to Congress

on March 4. He instead focused on illegal migration and hot-button societal issues such as policies targeting the transgender community.

“The American Dream is unstoppable, and our country is on the verge of a comeback the likes of which the world has never witnessed, and perhaps will never witness again,” he said on March 4.

In his speech to lawmakers, Mr Trump hailed the work of Mr Musk, but on March 6, he responded to growing criticism over unprecedented cuts to the US government overseen by the Tesla and SpaceX chief, saying they should be carefully calibrated.

“We say the

‘scalpel’ rather than the ‘hatchet’

,” Mr Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social after a Cabinet meeting attended by Mr Musk.

Cost of living

Americans seem so far unconvinced that the future will be as bright as Mr Trump promises, even after the Republican campaigned hard on cost of living issues in his election battle with Democrat Kamala Harris.

With the country polarised and Mr Trump’s approval rating middling from the get-go, the grace period appears to be over.

“We used to have a brief period of unity, but it’s not happening anymore, especially with Trump,” University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato said.

But he added that “the good news for Trump is that he still has a honeymoon with Maga”, his loyal Make America Great Again base.

In an Ipsos poll conducted for Reuters after the Oval Office face-off on Feb 28 between Mr Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, only 22 per cent of respondents said the country was moving in the right direction on cost of living issues.

Only a third said they were optimistic about Mr Trump’s foreign policy.

Consumer confidence has taken a nosedive, and inflation in the world’s largest economy is accelerating, with some experts saying the risk of recession is up as well.

Markets have already erased the so-called Trump Bump that came with his election, in large part due to uncertainty over tariffs.

Mr Trump told reporters on March 6 he was “not even looking at the markets”, instead accusing “globalist” investors of being to blame for the drop – shortly after he hit pause on most tariffs levied on Mexico and Canada.

‘As American as apple pie’

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said “access to cheap goods is not the essence of the American Dream”, and that any impact of tariffs on prices would be temporary.

Several opinion polls show that Americans generally support downsizing the federal government, but the brutal methods so far employed by Mr Musk’s Doge have frayed many people – and come up for court scrutiny.

The Supreme Court, which now has a 6-3 conservative bent thanks to Mr Trump’s justice appointments in his first term, dealt him a setback by

rejecting his bid

to freeze some US$2 billion (S$2.7 billion) in foreign aid payments.

US media are reporting that Republican members of Congress have been advised not to hold public town hall-style meetings in their districts, after some lawmakers were called on the carpet by constituents about Mr Musk’s advisory role.

Mr Trump has insisted that paid “troublemakers” are disrupting meetings, not actual voters upset about the current state of affairs.

The Democratic Party, meanwhile, is hoping to capitalise on Mr Trump’s missteps.

On March 4, Senator Elissa Slotkin, who was chosen to offer the party’s

rebuttal to Mr Trump’s speech

, called on Americans to “hold your elected officials, including me, accountable. Watch how they’re voting”.

“Go to town halls and demand they take action,” she said.

“That’s as American as apple pie.” AFP