Donald Trump recently hit the six-month mark of his second term in office, meaning that his second presidency is one-eighth done. For that occasion, pollster Frank Luntz appeared on CNN this week to talk about where the president stands.
Luntz noted that Trump’s honeymoon is over.
“His vote is not all of America. And he did get right at 50%. But a president should be trying to reach out to more than just 50%, should be trying to unite the country,” Luntz said, per a transcript by Alternet.
“If you look at the issues in this legislation, you go issue by issue and you put it plainly to the public, a lot of them have majority support. But the legislation overall doesn’t, because in his communication, he’s focused on his base and he’s doing a great job there. but that’s not all of America. And I, as a pollster, have to see 100% of the country, not just the 49.9% who voted for him.”
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Luntz is a Republican pollster, who frequently appears on mainstream news outlets and hosts on-air focus groups.
The pollster also said on CNN that while Trump has served the goals of his base, especially on immigration, it’s cost him with those outside of his base of support.
“This is his goal. This is his objective, to reach out to the people who voted for him, to say, ‘you made the right choice. I kept my promises. I kept my word.’ And he’s succeeding in that,” Luntz said on CNN “But over the last three months, it’s been much more polarizing, much more overt and some of the rhetoric has been really strong. And that turns off the people in the center. He is succeeding in reaching his people, but he is failing in unifying the country and bringing everyone on board.”
Trump approval now falling in @RCP average, which is what you’d think would happen as he pisses off his base (amnesty, Epstein, etc.) https://t.co/yiOe1Ut32S
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) July 11, 2025
“Over the next six months, when Labor Day kicks in, then they’re going to start to make decisions that will affect where they vote in 2026,” Luntz added. “… What is essential is that we find some sort of common ground. So on issues that are so important — Medicaid, taxes, budgets, immigration — we can have a consensus so we can move forward as a country rather than moving forward as a political party or an entity.”
According to the RealClearPolling average, Trump’s disapproval rating is currently at 52.5 percent, compared to a 45.3 percent approval rating. The spread of 7.2 percent is the worst of his second presidency, overtaking the 7.1 percent negative spread from the “Liberation Day” tariff chaos in April.
Photo courtesy of the Political Tribune media library.