Trump Gets Catastrophic News With War Poll

Summary

The MeidasTouch Podcast — Episode Summary
Episode Title: Trump Gets Catastrophic News With War Poll
Date: July 23, 2026
Hosts: Ben, Brett, and Jordy Meiselas

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Episode Overview

This episode delves into a series of catastrophic new poll results for Donald Trump in the context of his escalation of the Iran war, exploring the plummeting support among Trump’s own base and the broader American public. The Meiselas brothers unpack the political and moral backlash, analyze the polling data, play reaction clips from Fox News and right-wing figures, and highlight mounting challenges faced by the Republican Party as the war and economic unease take center stage approaching the midterms.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Polling Disaster for Trump and Republicans

[01:29–05:16]

• Multiple new polls from The Washington Post, Politico, and Fox News show unprecedented disapproval for Trump, especially regarding his handling of the Iran war.
• Approval for the war is plummeting even among MAGA voters:
  • Overall: Only 28% of Americans now say the war is worth fighting, with 68% saying it is not worth it.
  • MAGA Base: Support among hardcore MAGA voters has dropped from 50% in May to 37% in July.
• The Fox News generic midterm poll shows Democrats surging ahead, a trend causing evident panic among Republican strategists.

Quote:

• "Donald Trump's net approval is the worst in presidential history. So how does it get worse? Well, he beats his own record." — Political Commentator, [01:29]

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2. Fox News Panic and GOP Fragmentation

[03:32–07:33]

• Fox News panels openly criticize the war's direction, highlighting deep Republican concern about the economy and rising unpopularity of the conflict.
• Key Fox hosts and military analysts repeatedly stress that Americans “do not want another endless distraction,” signaling broader conservative anxiety.

Quote:

• “According to the new Washington Post Ipsos poll, 69% of Americans disapprove of the handling of this conflict. Republicans cannot let this become an endless distraction, especially if they want to win in November.” — News Anchor, [06:55]

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3. Escalating Toll and Strategic Failure

[05:17–06:50, 08:55–10:23]

• Military analysts and political commentators warn that Trump’s escalation strategy is not only politically costly but also risks moral and strategic disaster, with more American “gold star families” the inevitable result.
• Discussion of the conflict’s expansion, strikes on regional allies (e.g., Jordan, Kuwait), and the closure of strategic waterways like the Strait of Hormuz, and Bob El Mandab.

Quote:

• “Unfortunately, once you've started something like this, the way you finish it is with American ground troops...it’s not just politically costly. It’s at some point it gets to be immoral.” — Military Analyst, [05:59]

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4. Deepening GOP Disarray and MAGA Split

[10:23–12:08]

• Steve Bannon’s War Room segment and other right-wing outlets acknowledge the credibility of public unease and wavering among the core Trump/MAGA base.
• Poll analyst Megan on Bannon’s show highlights a “13-point drop” in war support among MAGA voters and the rise in calls even among loyalists to end the war.

Quote:

• "As we are now entering the fifth month of war here, only a little more than a third of the MAGA base still believes that the war is worth the economic cost here." — Megan, Poll Analyst, [10:47]

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5. Republican Excuses, Denials, and Disconnect

[12:08–17:36]

• Congresswoman Nancy Mace, Tom Emmer, and Carlos Jimenez attempt damage control, with Mace citing skyrocketing living costs and an unfulfilled Trump promise to cut electricity rates as public grievances intensify.
• Emmer claims Americans’ “feelings are wrong,” insisting better economic perceptions will emerge soon—an assertion that the hosts mock as out of touch.
• Jimenez compares current war unpopularity to American hesitance before World War II, suggesting public opinion could suddenly reverse (an analogy the hosts find laughable).

Quote:

• “The MAGA say the people will realize their feelings are wrong and that their reality is actually an economic golden age. They're just, they feel incorrectly 'cuz everything's so amazing. That’s what MAGA is going with.” — Political Commentator, [12:32]

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6. Trump’s Delusions and MAGA Fringe

[17:36–18:24]

• Trump and his surrogates make increasingly fantastical claims, including an assertion that America doesn’t need the Strait of Hormuz—despite its critical geopolitical implications.
• The episode ends with lighter banter and a comical clip featuring Lauren Boebert (confusing the moon landing with Amazon warehouses), embodying the wild conspiracy thinking among MAGA fringes.

Quote:

• “I think [the moon landing] was done in an Amazon warehouse.” — Lauren Boebert, [18:13]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Donald Trump...the deranged lunatic piece of trash, human walking piece of trash that he is.” — Political Commentator, [04:23] (illustrates the podcast's irreverent, biting tone)
• “It's going to cost you $5,000 a month...it's crazy.” — Rep. Nancy Mace, [12:24]
• “If a policy costs $150 per month, 30% off is $45 a month back in your pocket...Over a 20 year term, that's more than $10,000.” — Ryan Reynolds (in life insurance ad), [07:33] (included here as a notable, if off-topic, comic relief)
• “There you have it, everybody. Let me know what you think. Hit subscribe. Let’s get to 7 million subscribers…” — Political Commentator, [18:25]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [01:29] — Start of poll analysis: Trump's catastrophic numbers
• [03:32] — Fox News panic: GOP and economy under water
• [05:17] — Military analysis: risk of ground war, moral consequences
• [10:23] — Bannon’s podcast: MAGA support falls off a cliff
• [12:08] — Nancy Mace: affordability crisis and unfulfilled promises
• [13:27] — Tom Emmer’s out-of-touch defense of the economy
• [16:16] — Carlos Jimenez: WW2 analogy and disconnect with reality
• [17:43] — Trump’s delusions about strategic waterways
• [18:13] — MAGA conspiracy moment: Boebert, moon landing, Amazon

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Tone & Style

The episode combines sharp political analysis with the MeidasTouch Podcast’s trademark irreverence, comedy, and unapologetically pro-democracy attitude. The hosts alternate between alarm at the scale of the polling disaster for Trump and mockery at Republican denial and desperation, employing vivid language and biting wit throughout.

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For listeners who missed the episode:
This summary covers the core revelations, the Republican Party’s deepening crisis, the data points that alarm even conservative media, and the increasingly surreal attempts at spin from MAGA leadership. The brothers’ dynamic banter keeps the tone both insightful and engaging, while clips from across the political spectrum create a comprehensive portrait of a GOP in turmoil as election season heats up amid war and economic stress.

Transcript

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[Poll Analyst]

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[Political Commentator]

terms It gets even worse for Donald Trump. As I previously reported, Donald Trump's net approval is the worst in presidential history. So how does it get worse? Well, he beats his own record. He gets more bad polls. The least popular ever. And there were three new polls that just dropped, one from Washington Post, one from Politico, and one from State Regime Media, which calls itself Fox. And on Fox they said, don't know how else to really say this, but this is really, really bad for Republicans. And the data from Fox shows in a generic matchup for the midterms. Democrats are also surging ahead right now as Donald Trump gets us deeper and deeper into this catastrophic and unlawful war in ir. Let's go through this polling data right now, Washington Post. The percentage of Americans who say it's worth fighting only 28%. Not worth fighting 68%. How about the share of MAGA voters who think the war is worth the economic cost. These are MAGA voters, hardcore MAGA voters that fell from 50% in May to 37% in July in the latest polling. So the share of MAGA voters who think the war is worth the economic cost fell from 50% in May to 37% in July, while more now say the US should only stay involved if costs don't rise further or end the war altogether. We're talking about some of Donald Trump's most hardcore supporters. Let's take a look at what they just said on state regime media, which calls itself fox. Brit Hume, Brett Baer, they are panicking right now. Let's play this clip.

[Interviewer/Host]

You look at our polls and you look at the condition of the economy and this is the one for midterms we look at closely and that is excellent or good, 24% only fair or poor, 76%. And that has got to have Republicans, Senate and House concerned.

[Political Analyst]

Absolutely, Brad. And the truth is there's not much good news for Republicans in this whole poll we did underwater on the economy as you showed, underwater on affordability. Those two issues are front and center. For sure. Republicans have a little bit of a lead on national security and I guess law enforcement, but everywhere you look, Republicans are down. Now there is one, there is a bit of good news. As you mentioned, the redistricting will help them with seats in the House and they will probably need every one of them they can get from that.

[Political Commentator]

Now while they're doing that, Donald Trump was posting photos of himself looking like the deranged lunatic piece of trash, human walking piece of trash that he is. Donald Trump post Trump orders CENTCOM to open the gates of hell after US Troop killed launches strikes on Iran to which the Houthis immediately responded by striking Saudi Arabian tankers. And then in the Strait of Hormuz, the Iranians responded by striking a tanker there and having others turn around and as decoding Fox News hat tip to Decoding Fox News want to give a hat tip to her, support her work. She's got a great substack. Also at decoding Fox News, the folks at Fox News are openly criticizing Trump's war in Iran. They explain it Decoding Fox News. They know he watches it all day long. So here's what they're saying. Let's take a look.

[Interviewer/Host]

Let's play it nine straight days.

[Military Expert]

They're really hitting Kuwait hard and they're

[Interviewer/Host]

hitting Bahrain and but Jordan is the biggest surprise.

[Military Expert]

Yes, yes, we got to get missile defense there.

[Interviewer/Host]

Simple as that.

[Military Expert]

But I can, I do expect that

[Interviewer/Host]

we're going to be there a long time. You know, Operation Northern Southern Watch went on for, you know, almost 20 years, I think. So one of the things that's really alarming right now is that those strikes on Jordan were pretty advanced weapons. And we certainly felt like a lot of the strikes previously had taken out their, a lot of their missile capabilities.

[Political Commentator]

So that is definitely alarming.

[Political Commentator 2]

We have to do. Mark Warner is right. Bombing along may not work. We do not, nor have we ever controlled the Straits of Hormuz because, you

[Military Analyst]

know, there aren't too many approaches. There aren't too many choices left available. Unfortunately, once you've started something like this, the way you finish it is with American ground troops. And, you know, we're saddened and disgusted to hear about those newly minted gold star families. That is not what we want. But if we see a ground invasion, you're going to see a lot more than that. And you're going to, you know, you're going to have young people whose lives are destroyed. And, you know, we're not going to be saying their names every day on tv. And it's not just politically costly. It's at some point it gets to be immoral.

[Political Commentator 2]

The only other option is another deal. And the deal is probably, I hate to say this, this is not a political comment, but it may be worse than the deal Obama struck because you're going to have to unfreeze all of that money if we don't want to put troops on the ground. Because guess who else knows we don't want to put troops on the ground? The Iranians.

[News Anchor]

Yeah.

[Political Commentator 2]

So, again, this is not what I want to have happen. And Mark Warner loves this country.

[News Anchor]

Coming up, the US Launching more strikes tonight in Iran. A live report from the region. Plus, what's this going to do to Republicans in the midterms? Three members of our military were killed over the weekend. Tragedy. And with the midterm elections a little more than 100 days away, the clock is ticking for President Trump to get out of this war before voters head to the polls. It's making a lot of Republicans nervous. It's already, as we know, unpopular. According to the new Washington Post Ipsos poll, 69% of Americans disapprove of the handling of this conflict. Republicans cannot let this become an endless distraction, especially if they want to win in November.

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[Political Commentator]

Now the analysis here by Daniel Davis, Deep dive, I think is on point here. He says shortly before Ansar Allah fire. That's the Houthis in Yemen. The fired on two Saudi Arabian ships. Yesterday evening in the Red Sea, Trump posted on his Truth Social open the gates of hell. It should be painfully evident to everyone, even Trump, that these threats and military actions will never compel Iran or the Yemen rebels to submit to his will. It will do the opposite. Now Trump is starting to face the reality that the application of firepower is not only failing to achieve positive results, it is making our situation worse, hardening the resolve of our adversaries and deepening the cost of our increasing strategic failure. Now it ain't just the straight of Hormuz that's closed. It's Bob El Mandab. Things are going to get worse for the United States financially. Trump does not appear to be even close to the point where he realizes that more lethal power equals a worsening position for him. I think we can expect that he'll probably escalate even more in the coming days, making our position even more intractable and raising the cost on our country before possible reality will compel him to change course. Even his boy Steve Bannon, even his buddy Steve Bannon went on his podcast, brought in someone from Politico and watch what they said. This is Bannon let's play it.

[Interviewer/Host]

Megan, this poll, walk us through it. Because it's just not the absolute number in the poll. It's about the trend of the poll. This poll was taken and a part of the highlight of this is President Trump's most ardent supporters, the MAGA base. And these numbers are pretty shocking. I mean, they would be pretty shocking to people that didn't listen to the war room every day or weren't part of the cadre. Can you walk us through it?

[Poll Analyst]

Yeah. I think this comes as no surprise to anyone who is part of the MAGA base and has been hearing these perpetual concerns about the war and having concerns themselves about the war and its costs. And what we really find here is that, you know, as of May in our political poll, half of the MAG base thought that the war was worth the economic cost. Obviously, folks very supportive of the President, inclined to trust him, you know, receptive to the argument that this was about, you know, stopping Iran from having nuclear weapons. Now we see as we are, you know, now entering the fifth month of war here, that only a little more than a third of the MAGA base still believes that the war is worth the economic cost here. So that's a 13 point dip. And at the same time, 37% self identified MAGA Trump voters say the US should only continue being in the war if it doesn't increase costs. And one in five MAGA voters believe the US should actually just end the war in Iran regardless of the cost. Right. So some pretty shocking numbers here to folks who haven't been watching this. But to your point, not surprising to folks who have been having these concerns themselves.

[Political Commentator]

So that's what Bannon said. What about Nancy Mace? What did Nancy May say? I mean, we're talking about ultra MAGA right here. Let's play this clip to show you what Nancy Mace had to say. Let's play it.

[Political Commentator 2]

What are you hearing from your constituents about affordability?

[Congresswoman Nancy Mace]

Oh, people can't afford, I mean they're getting tax on everything. Groceries are up, electricity is up, their mortgages, their, the interest rates. Rent is up. In Mount Pleasant, in my district, for a three bedroom apartment, it's going to cost you $5,000 a month.

[Political Commentator]

Nobody can afford that.

[Congresswoman Nancy Mace]

It's crazy.

[Interviewer/Host]

Trump had said that he was going

[Political Commentator 2]

to bring down electricity by 50%.

[Congresswoman Nancy Mace]

Hasn't happened yet, has it?

[Political Commentator]

No, it hasn't.

[Political Commentator 2]

Yeah, thank you.

[Political Commentator]

Yeah, thank you again. You take a look at that state regime media poll one more time. The generic poll by Fox shows Democrats taking a huge lead, 53% to 46%. This is the highest either party has hit in a Fox generic poll since 1996. Since 1996. So what is MAGA Republican Congressmember Tom Emmer saying? He's one of the leaders of the MAGA Republicans in Congress. He said, look, the economy's now working for everyone. Things are looking great. And he said that when people feel bad, their feelings are wrong. And by September, the MAGA say the people will realize their feelings are wrong and that their reality is actually an economic golden age. They're just, they feel incorrectly cuz everything's so amazing. That's what MAG is going with. Let's play it Southern border.

[Military Expert]

It's about an economy that is starting to work for everyone. You look at real wages are growing faster than inflation. You look at the lower rungs of the prosperity ladder in this country, they are actually catching up for the first time in years. Their spending is up about 6% right now. They are feeling better about the economy and if their perception is they're in a better place than they were under Joe Biden and they see a bright future, guess what guys, we're going to hold the House, we're going to hold the Senate and we're going to finish out Trump's term in style.

[Congresswoman Nancy Mace]

And Congressman, I do have to point out though that there still are many Americans on both sides of the aisle who are feeling financial pressure, financial strain on various levels, whether it be because of the war in Iran or maybe inflation not going down as quickly as we had hoped. What is your message to them? Because we keep telling them to be patient and they may feel that they just don't have patience left.

[Military Expert]

Well, Katrina, I guess I'm pushing back on that by telling you that while there are people, and there always will, that are going to be struggling, what they're saying compared to what is happening is not matching. And what you're going to see, I believe is by early September, those two things, the perception of their economic reality and their, their literally the economic reality are going to be intersecting the economy. Nobody's talking about 99 cent eggs. And you're correct by the. When you talk about, for instance, gas prices, gas prices because of the war in Iran have been definitely impacted and people see that on a daily basis. But I would argue to you that with the President of peace, what he tried to do with Iran and he told everybody that once he got to that point, you were going to see gas prices come tumbling down. Katrina, we in fact saw that until the Iranians balked on the deal. I would say the IRGC balked on the deal.

[Interviewer/Host]

Also, inflation came down shortly after that.

[Military Expert]

That's right, yes.

[Congresswoman Nancy Mace]

Yep.

[Political Commentator]

Congressman Tom Emmer.

[Interviewer/Host]

Sir, we gotta leave it there.

[Political Commentator]

Then you have MAGA Republican Congress member Carlos Jimenez from Florida saying, sure, this war may be unpopular, but so was World War II before it started. Just like World War II. This may become popular soon. You want us to be involved in World War. Oh, wait, you know, we're kind of are involved in World War Three. You take a look at Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Every day there's, you've got these dark mushroom cloud looking things over the facilities that are being destroyed both in Russia now and in Kiev. That's going there. The Middle east has been lit on fire every Africa. There's wars everywhere. You know, Venezuela, I mean, threatening war on Cuba. Anyway, here's what Carlos Jimenez says. Let's play it.

[Interviewer/Host]

President Trump this morning said that Americans, quote, aren't against the war, end quote, despite a lot of polling to the contrary. In a recent Washington Post Ipso survey, 68% of Americans said the war was not worth fighting, while 28% said it was. How do you explain the disconnect between what the President says and how Americans feel according to almost all of these most recent polls? Well, you know, I am not going to speak for the President that I think that I'm not going to dispute the polls either. But I also know that prior to World War II, 85% of Americans were not in favor of entering war. And then it all changed in one day. I think the President, and frankly, us, we have to explain why it is that we are hitting Iran, that we want to make sure Iran never gets a nuclear weapon. Iran has been saying for 47 years, death to America, death to Israel. When somebody's been talking like that for 47 years, I tend to listen and think that they're serious about it. So this war is really not about us. This war is really about protecting our children and our grandchildren. And I'm willing to make that investment. And so while many Americans may think that it's we shouldn't be doing this, I believe we should because I want to protect my children and my grandchildren in the future from a nuclear armed Iran.

[Political Commentator]

But Donald Trump says we don't need the Hormuz street. We don't need them streets in horror. Moose, let's play this clip.

[Interviewer/Host]

We don't need anything.

[Military Expert]

We don't need the hormone street, but we do it because we have to do it, because we cannot let Iran

[Interviewer/Host]

have a nuclear weapon.

[Political Analyst]

It's very.

[Political Commentator]

And then just for the hell of it, I'll just show you what Lauren Boebert had to say about that. She believes that the moon landing was done in Amazon warehouses.

[Shopify Spokesperson]

Let's play.

[Interviewer/Host]

Here's what I got. A real important question from you, from

[Military Expert]

the fellows at Midas Touch. They want to know where you're at

[Interviewer/Host]

on the moon landing, which the anniversary of it was yesterday.

[Congresswoman Nancy Mace]

I don't know.

[Poll Analyst]

I think it was done in an Amazon warehouse.

[Congresswoman Nancy Mace]

Oh, they didn't have those then.

[Political Commentator]

Different warehouse.

[Interviewer/Host]

So you're not convinced that we land another moon?

[Congresswoman Nancy Mace]

No, I'm not convinced of half the

[Poll Analyst]

things government tells us. Have a great day.

[Political Commentator 2]

Thank you.

[Political Commentator]

There you have it, everybody. Let me know what you think Hit subscribe. Let's get to 7 million subscribers and check out WTF. Pre order it right now. It's the book I did with my brothers. Check it out. I think somewhere there's the QR code. Hit the QR code. If you do the pre order now, it really, it really, really helps. And then if you did pre order, put in comment wtf? Say wtf Ban. If you did the pre order.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Thanks for watching Breaking news right now. My brothers and I wrote a book. It's called WTF America? And well, doesn't that just say it all? It comes out officially this October, but you can pre order your copy today. Just scan the QR code or click the link in the description below.

[Interviewer/Host]

Sam.