President Donald Trump, whose recent moves appear more legacy- than MAGA-focused, is being urged to return to the strategy that helped him win back the White House: direct outreach to supporters and policies that make their lives better.
Instead of gilding the White House and building a U.S. version of the Arc de Triomphe, pollsters and GOP advisers are calling on the president to address the concerns among his voting base that it has been forgotten, a threat to the Republican control of Congress.
Cygnal pollster Brent Buchanan told Washington Secrets that “Trump won by pulling together young men; nonwhite, non-college-educated voters; and those who don’t usually pay much attention to politics.”
But now, he said, they are drifting off and even turning to Democrats as the answer to their economic worries.
“The 2025 elections were a referendum on Trump from the perspective of turnout on the Left,” he added. “Many key portions of the Trump 2024 coalition stayed home, likely because they haven’t seen reprieve on the affordability issue. It has to be the focus of the White House and GOP leadership.”
Top Republican communications adviser Ron Bonjean said Trump should reconnect with his MAGA base on kitchen table issues. He applauded Trump’s plan to address affordability issues at a McDonald’s summit Monday night.
However, Bonjean emphasized on his “Message Machine” Substack, the president needs to recharge his supporters now before it becomes a struggle leading up to the 2026 congressional midterm elections.
“For months, Donald Trump has relied on a hyper-efficient messaging strategy — not through stadium rallies or rope-line stops, but through media saturation,” Bonjean wrote on his Substack.
“These moves serve his legacy and keep him top-of-mind,” said the co-founder of the Washington bipartisan communications firm Rokk Solutions. “But they are not what fuel a movement.”
He advised that Trump travel out of Washington more, hold 2024 MAGA-style rallies, and seize on a “boogeyman,” such as socialist New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani.
“Trump hasn’t engaged his MAGA base in person for months,” Bonjean said. “That’s not just atypical — it’s risky. This is a movement that runs on proximity, visibility, and energy.”
NEW: Pollster Mark Mitchell Sends A Message To The Republican Party—WAKE UP!
“What happens is, when Trump wins an election, he convinces a higher proportion of the under 40 votes to turn it out for him than we’ve ever seen before, all the Republicans say, Oh, look at us. We’re… pic.twitter.com/nLD5cVlulh
— Walter Curt (@wcdispatch) November 11, 2025
Polling outfits that accurately tracked Trump’s 2024 triumph over then-Vice President Kamala Harris, including Cygnal, Rasmussen Reports, and Big Data Poll, have warned recently that Trump has not only lost his base of support among men and younger people, especially non-college-educated voters, but is also losing out on economic issues.
“If the Republicans do not get in gear and actually get the agenda moving, get some points on the scoreboard, President Trump is going to be impeached,” Rasmussen pollster Mark Mitchell posted on X. “We have six months to reverse course and start the push for the midterms.”
The top 2 issues for voters <30 in @cygnal‘s survey are inflation (23%) & healthcare (19%). That’s 42% cost concerns.
Only 40% believe America’s best days are ahead.
Those non-college-edu are more despondent.
America’s youth are in serious trouble.https://t.co/PJCxL4QrQU
— Brent Buchanan, Pollster (@brentbuc) November 17, 2025
Buchanan told Washington Secrets, “In the past few months, non-college-educated voters have spiked in their concern about healthcare and inflation. At the same time, Republicans have gone from R+17 on the generic ballot with this group to R+3. Younger men have dropped from R+4 to D+5.”
The solution, he added, is talking directly to those voters.
“The White House and GOP leadership need to talk all and only about what they’re doing to make things more affordable, housing more accessible, and healthcare with lower premiums,” Buchanan said. “That’s what these voters expected, and they haven’t experienced it in their own lives. That’s why 47% of non-college voters believe America’s best days are behind it.”
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Bonjean assured that there is time to avoid a 2026 disaster if Trump acts now.
“Republicans may look fractured today,” he said. “But if Trump re-emerges with renewed energy, a rally-driven strategy, and a focused economic message that connects tax hikes, inflation, and Democratic leadership, those divisions could dissolve almost overnight.”