The Houston Chronicle reported May 7 that for the first time, more Texans disapprove of President Donald Trump’s handling of the economy than approve. That says a lot more about Trump than it does about any changes in Texas.
Yes, Texas continues to get bluer as Democrats now control all major urban areas except Fort Worth. But the Lone Star State still sends only conservative Republicans to statewide and national office due to the influence of deep red rural areas and some billionaire donors.
In the 2024 presidential election, Trump carried Texas with 56% of the vote. Despite whatever concerns they may have about his character or mental acuity, the “bidness” community in Texas still loves a Republican who’s in bed with Big Oil.
Mark Wingfield
But now, 100 days into the most chaotic presidency in American history, it appears Trump’s hubris is catching up with him.
A University of Texas at Austin Texas Politics Project survey released Wednesday found 46% of Texans do not approve of how Trump is handling the economy amid new tariffs and escalating trade wars. Only 40% support Trump’s economic moves.
Trump could have had relatively smooth sailing with the slim majority of Americans who sent him back to the White House had he not done two things: Set Elon Musk loose in an irrational purge of federal employees and declared himself the king of insane tariffs.
While liberals like me are horrified by every single action Trump takes to destroy democracy, the thing that will get him cancelled by his own base is to wreck the economy — which he is doing with uncanny ability.
“Like a know-it-all guy in the church sound booth, he had to tweak the buttons and levers to his liking.”
He has massively increased the unemployment rolls, which has spooked other companies into major layoffs, and he has proved himself an unreliable negotiator on the economy, disregarding the warnings of people who know more than him in order to implement his long-held backward beliefs on tariffs.
Remember that a key point in the election was the price of bacon and eggs. Yes, Trump and JD Vance were lying about all that — and wouldn’t know the current price of eggs any more than a Russian oligarch — but the electorate bought it. They thought voting for Trump would help the family budget.
Had Trump simply left well enough alone, he would have been hailed as a hero by his supporters because he inherited a healthy economy from the previous administration he loves to bash. But like a know-it-all guy in the church sound booth, he had to tweak the buttons and levers to his liking.
The result is an economy heading the wrong direction even as the president denies the reality he has created. But if my fellow Texans are noticing something’s wrong, that’s a very bad sign for the White House.
Sadly, this proves once again that too many Americans — including evangelical Christians — are driven by money more than morality. The Trump administration is a moral catastrophe, but that’s not enough for his fan club to abandon him.
Remember, it was Jesus who said the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. That’s still true today. Thus it is ironic that the love of money can open eyes that the love of morality cannot.
Mark Wingfield serves as executive director and publisher of Baptist News Global. He is the author of five books, including Honestly: Telling the Truth about the Bible and Ourselves.
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