@squeakyclean I couldn't disagree more.
With respect to your first point (he's not really DOING anything different this term compared to the first): DOGE, scores of longtime fed employees replaced by loyalists, his tariffs frenzy, the "no new wars" president starting a war, costly vanity projects, a Justice Department that has lost any semblance of independence led by an Attorney General who is literally Trump's personal lawyer, ICE out of control, Trump's brazen and rampant corruption. That's a short list off the top of my head on a very busy day. I could go on with more time.
Regarding the second point (he's the exact same person), he's not. The core personality traits haven't changed, but watch a clip from 10 years ago and compare it to today. He's lost his fastball and now often appears as a doddering old man.
Regarding his approval ratings, I don't have time to look at every major poll but a quick look at Gallup shows he started in 2017 at 45% approval and, in 2025, at 47% approval, so essentially the same, shitty launching points both terms.
And, yes, HH is correct that Trump had people like Kelly, Mattis, Barr and Pence to effectively push back in the first term. That's gone now.
I think you are forgetting just how many stupid / incompetent things happened his first term.
Government shutdown
Mexico Wall, Funding vs. effectiveness
Saying on live TV he trusted Putin more than his own intelligence services
The withdrawal of forces from Syria allowing Turkey to invade
Hatch Act violations
Ignoring subpoenas from Congress
Summer of Love response (National Guard / Church photo op)
Handling of the Khashoggi assassination
Firing Comey for not being loyal enough
Withholding money to Ukraine for the Hunter investigation and the resulting impeachment proceedings
Weekly flights to Mara Lago and other Trump properties on the tax-payers dime (547 visits in 1460 days of term)
Hurricane response to Puerto Rico
Manafort and Flynn
Declaring everything fake news from crowd sizes to fact checking about 2020 voter fraud issues
Failure to provide a healthcare plan
Letting slip classified info to Putin during their meeting
Some very questionable pardons
30,000+ false or misleading statements
Covid Response
January 6th escapades
His first term was a crapfest. The good economy just made things palatable to most everyday people. What I should have said was instead of "started at a higher level", was something along the lines of "his lies and incompetence were masked by the good economy and allowed him to maintain his approval rating at a higher level". Covid was sadly the wake-up call that this country needed to get rid of him.
I agree that he is getting worse with regards to his "fastball". That's just old age though.
@squeakyclean You're right, I had forgotten about some of that stuff.
Crapfest indeed.
Not much better than Nixon on his last day in office.
EXCLUSIVE: Trump approval falls to 33%, lowest of his presidency, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds | Reuters
He'll be a weight on the party in the midterms.
Trump Approval Rating Falls To 32% In Latest Poll
Donald Trump approval stuck at 33 percent amid Iran war, inflation woes: Survey
Poll: Trump’s job approval going into midterms lower than any president in 20 years