Aides Admit Donald Trump Is Reportedly Becoming More 'Erratic' as His Political Losses Stack Up

White House aides have reportedly described Donald Trump as more 'erratic' in recent months as difficulties over Iran, weak polling and an interest rate setback put pressure on the US president, as accounts of his behaviour have emerged since July.

The New York Times reported in July that Trump was struggling to find a strategy to end the Iran conflict while preserving his public image. The report linked that difficulty to descriptions of increasingly 'erratic' behaviour.

Donald Trump's Approval and Economic Ratings

A poll by an American research group conducted from 16 to 20 September put Trump's overall approval rating at 29%. The survey questioned 1,100 American adults.

Positive views of the economy stood at 26%, while 72% of respondents said they felt the US economy was getting worse. The survey recorded negative views of the economy's direction alongside the president's weak approval figure.

The report described the overall approval result as Trump's lowest across both White House terms and his first below 30%. It contrasted that finding with higher approval figures in other recent surveys.

Those surveys, including a New York Times poll, had placed his approval in the mid-30% range. Ratings also varied by policy area, with the overall approval figure and assessments of the economy covering different questions.

The American Research Group survey covered adults, rather than a group identified as registered or likely voters. Its findings record attitudes toward Trump and the economy, without forecasting how the midterm elections will turn out.

An Interest Rate Setback for Donald Trump

Trump has also encountered opposition to his preferred direction on interest rates. The Federal Reserve, under chair Kevin Warsh, whom Trump nominated, reportedly raised federal interest rates despite the president's objections.

The increase described in the account would take policy in the opposite direction, even though Trump nominated Warsh to lead the central bank. The report did not specify the size of the increase or the resulting rate.

The account says the Fed last raised rates in 2023, during former president Joe Biden's administration, when the economy was dealing with high inflation. The central bank's inflation target is 2%.

The dispute centres on a chair Trump chose and a rate decision that went against his wishes. It adds to the domestic setbacks accompanying the difficulties aides have described over the Iran conflict.

Donald Trump's Campaign Doubts and Legacy Focus

CNN reported in August that aides described Trump as ambivalent about travelling across the country to bolster weak Republican candidates in the midterms.

The uncertainty concerned how actively he would support candidates from his own party during the campaign.

By the end of that month, aides were telling The Wall Street Journal that the president had shifted into 'legacy mode'. They described his attention as shifting toward his historical standing rather than the economy or ending the Iran war.

Accounts of the 80-year-old president's mood were not uniform. The Daily Beast reported that some insiders described him as capable of being in good spirits, while others said he could quickly lose his temper.

The report did not name the aides and did not include an on-the-record White House response to their descriptions of Trump's behaviour.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a friend of Trump, offered a more favourable interpretation of his interest in his legacy. He told the Journal that Trump was 'one of the handful of presidents who thinks on an entirely historic scale'.

Gingrich described Trump as preoccupied with how he was perceived and the significance of his presidency.

'He wants to be consequential. He wants this to matter,' Gingrich said. 'He wants to be the kind of president who people say, you know, it mattered that he was president.'