It is no great revelation that Donald Trump is enriching himself as president.
asserted
Trump → enrich → president
He raked in $2.2bn in 2025, with his position and his personal interests frequently overlapping.
asserted
position → rake → 2025
Yet this week’s poll finding that 34% of Republicans (and 66% of all American voters) think that he is using his position to make himself rich merits attention.
asserted
himself → find → attention
Separately, voters in a Fox News poll last week put government corruption at the top of their list of concerns – just ahead of inflation and high prices.
asserted
voters → put → inflation
Mr Trump pledged that people would be better off if they voted for him.
asserted
they → pledge → him
He promised to lower the costs of groceries (they have risen again) and to cut the price of gasoline to below $2 a gallon.
asserted
they → promise → 2
It’s more than double that, thanks to his reckless and illegal war on Iran.
asserted
It → ’ → Iran
Tariffs have bumped up the cost of living too.
asserted
Tariffs → bump → living
Incumbents will always struggle when the economy does.
asserted
economy → struggle → ?
But the gulf between his own prosperity and the daily life of his base now looks less like an inspiration and more like an insult.
asserted
gulf → look → insult
Cash offers seem unlikely to help much.
asserted
offers → seem → much
The president’s popularity rating sank to a record low of 36% in a poll on Wednesday.
asserted
rating → sink → Wednesday
But he is touring red states as he seeks to shore up the vote in places where the idea of a Democratic victory looked laughable two years ago.
asserted
idea → tour → victory
Democrats are rightly cautious about their midterms prospects, having been burned too many times.
asserted
Democrats → burn → prospects
But less than a fortnight from 3 November, with many votes already cast, polls suggest that they will take the House and could well claim the Senate too.
uncertain
they → cast → Senate
The party is still unpopular, though impressive candidates are performing far better than anyone expected in surprising places – notably Texas and Kansas.
asserted
anyone → perform → places
Independents are turning away from Mr Trump and his party, and many Republicans seem unenthused, for multiple reasons.
asserted
Republicans → turn → reasons
The “Maga-sympathetic” pollster Rich Baris argues that “Donald Trump did this to himself”.
asserted
Trump → argue → himself
His base believed Mr Trump was their champion.
asserted
Trump → believe → ?
Now they suspect that he is “just another politician”.
asserted
he → suspect → ?
There is merited concern about how the president has already used his power to tilt the midterms, and more about what he may do if his party fares as badly as forecast.
uncertain
party → be → what
Republicans still hope to reclaim ground through traditional if unsavoury means, massively outspending Democrats.
asserted
Republicans → hope → Democrats
Yet while some polls are tightening, culture war attacks and salacious lies about opponents such as James Talarico in Texas do not seem, at least so far, to be as powerful as Republicans hoped.
asserted
Republicans → tighten → Texas
That’s not just because Democratic candidates are repositioning themselves.
asserted
candidates → ’ → themselves
The toxic messaging of the presidential race – that Kamala Harris “is for they/them, President Trump is for you” – doesn’t land if voters believe that he’s actually for himself and his friends.
asserted
he → land → himself
Republicans now point to France’s unrest and claim that a Democrat-dominated Congress would bring chaos and destruction to America.
uncertain
Congress → point → America
Their fearmongering has often motivated core voters.
asserted
fearmongering → motivate → voters
But while Democrats stick to the economic attack, Republicans are trying to change the subject instead of offering answers.
asserted
Republicans → stick → answers
Mr Trump’s bread-and-circuses politics is floundering, cage fights on the South Lawn of the White House notwithstanding, as voters ask what happened to the bread.
asserted
what → flounder → bread
The Aporia
