Return to Transcripts main page

Inside Politics

Trump Approval Falls To 33 Percent, Lowest Of Either Term; 3 In 4 Voters Disapprove Of Trump's Handling Of Economy; More GOP Candidates Break With Trump Over War In Iran; GOP Senators Blast China's Xi Ahead Of Summit With Trump; Soon: Emergency Hearing On Trump's CNN, MS Now, POLITICO Ban. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired September 23, 2026 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[12:00:10]

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR, INSIDE POLITICS: President Trump wants the midterms to be all about him, but a new CNN poll shows why many Republicans on the ballot may want well the opposite.

I'm Manu Raju, in for Dana Bash. Let's go behind the headlines at Inside Politics.

There are 41 days into the election. We're tracking the races, candidates, and stories that could shift the balance of power here in Washington and across the country. So, here's what's on our midterm radar. It's hard to look at today's brand-new CNN poll as anything other than a repudiation of President Trump.

His approval rating is at 33 percent, the lowest it's ever been in a CNN poll in either term. Just 27 percent approve of his handling of the economy. That, of course, is the number one midterm issue. 44 percent say their midterm vote will be in opposition to Trump, and just 19 percent say it will be a show of support for the president. Democrats hold an eight-point lead on the generic ball. 49 percent say they'll vote for a Democrat in November. 41 percent say they'll vote for a Republican.

And perhaps not coincidentally, GOP unity on the Iran war is starting to fracture for Republicans in tough election fights. At least five Republicans running in tough races for Senate and governor are now calling for a quick or immediate end to the Iran war, with new statements from Michigan Governor candidate John James, Ohio Senator Jon Husted, and this from Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Tom Tiffany.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TOM TIFFANY (R-WI): The president has final say in regards to this, but I just believe that we should be exiting Iran that it's time to move on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Tiffany is currently a member of the House, where he's voted no on resolutions calling for an end to the war. Meanwhile, the Cook Political Report is shifting its ratings in three Senate races toward the Democrats. Georgia goes from lean Democrat to likely Democrat, Kansas from likely Republican to lean Republican, and South Carolina enters the battleground map for the first time, moving from solid Republican to likely Republican. Cook says it now sees Democrats picking up at least one seat, and as many as five.

So, I'm joined now by a terrific group of reporters, including the one and only David Chalian, who's been pouring through these numbers and he's going to give us more insight into all the juicy tidbits that has Republicans very, very nervous right now.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR & WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF: But one second, can we just talk about that shift -- rating shift to likely Democrat in the Georgia Senate race? I mean, he's the only Democrat running for re-election in a Trump state.

RAJU: Yeah, it's remarkable.

CHALIAN: Well, sorry. Yes. And I think these numbers explain in part why that is. So if you look under the hood here, the story of this poll of where we are right now is that Donald Trump has found himself in unpopular places before, but never, when it comes to the economy, this unpopular and that is the difference between now and 2018. And in 2018, he lost 40 seats, obviously.

But take a look here, approval of Trump's handling of the economy in 2018 was 49 percent. 49 percent. Now he's at 27 percent, a 22-point drop. His overall approval weighting, Manu, in 2018 was 36 percent overall. He's at 33 percent now. You noted as a low. So, he was unpopular then, but he still had 49 percent approval on the economy. That is shattered. And as you noted, it's even more important of an issue now to people's vote certainly than it was in 2018. Now it's at 68 percent.

The other thing that I think is worth noting here is just his own most strong supporters are dissipating. They're falling apart a little bit here. So, September 2018, strong approval, 27 percent, now 13. I would note a year and a half ago, the 13 percent that are strong approvers now, that was 26 percent just a year and a half ago. He has halved it across his term here.

And when you look at Republicans who were strong approvers, just among Republicans, two thirds of so were strong approvers in 2018, that's down to 35 percent now. That is your most, you know, the strongest part of his base, the most vociferous supporters, Republican strong approvers among Republicans, now that is only at 35 percent.

[12:05:00]

And when you look at white non-college -- look at this line, guys, white non-college voters. This has been the very core of what makes up the Trump coalition. So, you back in February of 25, the beginning of this term, that was at 63 percent approval. He has been nothing basically but a straight downward line here. And in our poll today, 44 percent of white non-college is approval number with a critical component of his winning coalition. RAJU: And Nia, the challenge is that you're so close to the midterms. You can't change perceptions this close to the midterms.

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, BLOOMBERG POLITICAL & POLICY COLUMNIST AND CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yeah. I mean, I've just been shaking my head the entire time because now you really get to see why the Republicans are freaking out, right? They are probably seeing these numbers internally in their own campaigns in these different states, and it's also why they are back, you know, sort of backtracking away from Donald Trump because he is just so deeply unpopular.

The other thing is, this has been going on for a while, and voters can make a simple connection between what Donald Trump did and the prices they're paying at the grocery store or for their back-to-school clothes for their kids, right? So that's the problem. It's in the water. It's been in the water for a while. You talk to anybody, middle class folks, upper middle-class people. Everyone is changing their behaviors around this economy in terms of what they do and it's going to clearly mean changing their behaviors in terms of their voting as well.

RAJU: No question. And you know, the Republicans have been saying that look, people will reward us for what we have done, and they point to the pass of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that had a whole slew of changes to tax laws. They've been campaigning on tax cuts and these so-called Trump accounts are a part of it and say that that eventually will help us hit the win over some of these voters because it's a pocketbook election.

OK, well, how does -- what does the poll say about that tax law changes? How do people view these tax law changes? Just 17 percent say this is positive, with 43 percent saying negative, and many, even almost 40 percent, 39 percent say not much in effect. And then those so-called Trump accounts, 18 percent say positive, 22 percent say negative, and 59 percent say not much effect.

It just goes to show you, Kristen, they have just not sold this law that passed more than a year ago, and the Republicans are begging the president to campaign relentlessly on this issue and said he's been dealing with ballrooms, what press bands, and all the rest, the Iran war, not the things that they actually have,

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Already you're looking at very difficult headwinds for the Republican Party. Then you take a president who is really just completely off message. They have people that are going in there, showing him polls that are close, trying to reiterate what he should be saying to the American people, and then he's going in there and saying it's time to rename Lake Ontario, Lake America. I'm going to ban the press. I'm going to do this. Everything but talk about what people care about.

Now, my big question is why is it that his political team still has this idea that he's going to be traveling every day in October, going to all these different districts. If this is what it looks like, because the entire point of that is to drive out the Republican base, and now we're seeing that the Republican base itself is moving away from Donald Trump. So, what are they trying to do having him on the ground in these various areas?

RAJU: So much of this, Evan, is about the Iran war's driving so much of the negative perception. We're seeing more and more Republicans just want -- they said this is going to be done in four to six weeks. It has not been done in four to six weeks, and we're seeing these Republicans who supported the war, who have been with Trump, now saying the opposite. Really saying that war should end soon and changing their tone dramatically.

Here's just a look at some of them here. Ashley Hinson, Mike Rogers, Jon Husted, Tom Tiffany, John James, different ways that they have talked about this, but really an emphasis on ending the war. A lot of them did vote to continue the war and voted against war powers like Tom Tiffany and Jon Husted in particular. There's going to be a big vote this week in the Senate on Iran war powers. We expect Jon Husted to vote against that. We'll see what he ultimately does. But Evan, that is really what's driving so much of this GOP anxiety.

EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON SUN: Yeah. I mean, there was a popular Republican not long ago who said the worst thing Republican president can do is get into a war they can't get out of. That person's name was Donald Trump. And he has now put himself in this position where this is -- this is the one I think singular issue. And you've seen this party try to do some politics. We talk about this like this is all sort of happening around them. They're not doing anything. They have tried to do stuff.

J. D. Vance at the president's convention says, hey, listen, I know you don't like this war, but you got to give us another shot, right? We've seen the president say, hey, how about a $5,000 check? We've seen all this conversation around this idea. Oh, Venezuelan oil is going to come in. We have all the -- it's not for lack of trying. It really is. They dug a huge hole with this with their own base, who voted for them because they didn't want wars, and they have not been able to dig themselves out of it and that's where we are right now.

[12:10:00]

RAJU: Yeah. And so much of course has to do with gas prices, diesel prices in particular. I wanted you to listen to what Tommy Tuberville told me yesterday. He's the, of course, the. outgoing Alabama Republican senator. He's running for governor in Alabama this November. He's a favorite in that race in that very red state, and I asked him about the impact that these high fuel costs are having on constituents in Alabama.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TOMMY TUBERVILLE (R-AL): Obviously, gas prices are high. They've been high before. People deal with that. They know it's going to go up and down. What's affecting us right now in Alabama? This is harvest season for farmers, and diesel is high. But you know our people in Alabama know that, you know, they voted for President Trump. They know he -- they gave him the opportunity to go back and --

RAJU: They're willing -- they're willing to pay higher prices, you think?

TUBERVILLE: Yeah, sure they are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: David, are they willing to pay higher prices in Alabama?

CHALIAN: I mean, I don't know anyone. Have you met anyone who's like, oh, sure to pay higher prices at the pump? I've never met that. That doesn't mean there aren't people that don't agree that Iran shouldn't have a nuclear weapon. There are lots of people who agree with that, but I have not heard anyone say, I want to pay more at the gas pump. So that seemed a little discordant here.

You know, one thing, Manu, I got asked today that I think is worth exploring here. Given everything all of us have just said here, and looking at these numbers, it's like, why aren't the Democrats 20 points ahead of the generic congressional ballot? You know, why are they --

RAJU: And as you say that there -- here was a general congressional ballot from this cycle -- this right now in September 2026 to past cycles October 2010. That was when Republicans had a wave. That'll be on your screen. Continue, Dave.

CHALIAN: I will say they are 20 points ahead among the most motivated voters in our poll. That is an advantage for the Democrats on enthusiasm. But part of this is because if you look at our poll, you know, Democratic leaders in Congress, their approval, it's in the basement with Republicans. Only a quarter of Americans approve of Democratic leaders in Congress how they're doing their job, just like Republicans.

And when we ask specifically, so on like cost of living, if Democrats were to get control of the majority, would it have a positive effect or a negative effect? The country splits kind of evenly on that. It's not a huge advantage. So, as an advantageous an environment this is politically for the Democrats, and as bad as it is for Trump and the Republicans, it's not because of what Democrats have on offer right now. I don't think it is a -- as you said at the top, a repudiation of Trump and Trump -- and Trump's economy right now more than anything else.

HOLMES: I didn't say, I was talking to one of Trump's advisors, and they were like, the story right now is how we still even have a dog in the fight.

RAJU: Yeah.

HOLMES: I mean that's the story.

RAJU: And the reason why --

HOLMES: And the fact that some of these races are even this close, given the political headwinds -- RAJU: And this is why the Republicans are spending a ton of money here as you can see on the screen. That's their advantage, 682 million to 491 million from September now until Election Day. All right, coming up. President Trump is going all out for China's Xi Jinping, but that warm reception is getting a chilly one from some Republicans. Plus, wedding bells to a potential subpoena. Why more Republicans are pushing to investigate Donald Trump Jr. over a report a Russian oligarch with ties to Putin funded some of his wedding.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RAJU: President Trump is going out of his way to welcome Xi Jinping, literally over a dozen miles out of his way. In fact, tonight he'll head to Joint Base Andrews to personally meet the Chinese leader on the tarmac. Now, this rarely happens. As you can see, President Trump typically greets world leaders at the White House with a simple handshake at the front door, but the tarmac trip is just the start of what's expected to be three days of lavish festivities in VIP treatment for Xi.

My excellent reporters are back. Kristen, why going all out the way for Xi Jinping that they wouldn't do for, say, a French president or --

HOLMES: Well, first of all, he wants to show him the White House. He wants to show him everything. He wants to really pile on the festivities here. The way that he talks about, you know, his trip to China, he always says, you know, the ballroom -- we talk a lot about how, you know, he's obsessed with the ball room.

One thing that we miss is that he's constantly saying that there's a ballroom in China that is amazing, and that when President Xi comes, what can you believe we have to bring him to this old thing? Now we're going to get to go to this --

RAJU: Why does he want to impress Xi so badly?

HOLMES: He always wants to impress Xi. I mean, look, he likes the strong man. He likes the idea of showing off the United States in this way. Showing, I mean, I put so much gold in the Oval Office. It's not just Xi, but it is an extra level for President Xi.

RAJU: And we're hearing some pushback from Republicans in the Senate like this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED BUDD (R-NC): We can't forget that China is also a competitor and an adversary. The Chinese Communist Party's malign influence on the world stage, it's growing rapidly and American citizens are paying the price. SEN. ROGER WICKER (R-MS): During every minute of dialog, our commander in chief should keep in mind that his guest is a brutal, unelected, and oppressive dictator who seeks to dominate his neighbors and whose massive military arsenal is aimed directly at the United States of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Evan, there's a lot of unease among the GOP on this.

[12:20:00]

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: Yeah. We had a story today in the Washington Sun about how deep this goes. That people are looking at this and saying, OK, Trump would like to make big deals. It's a big moment for him. Please don't do anything with Taiwan. We're seeing Republican senators push back and say, you have to give -- you have to stand up for Taiwan. Still, you know, still force that issue. It's a strange situation because this is the kind of thing that Trump has been trumpeted so much in his administration, right?

Bringing these world leaders in, making these huge deals, trillions of dollars are coming in. All this sort of stuff. This is a moment that should be -- we talked about the election before. Should be a moment where you can, you know, be presidential. But his own party is saying, you know, don't get too crazy right now. We got to be nice to Xi, I guess, but also let's be strong. That's a big deal. It's a big shift for him.

RAJU: And look at what they probably should be talking about, or they probably will talk about in some capacity. This is what's on the agenda, at least on the issues that divide the two nations, trade and tariffs, Taiwan, AI, of course, Iran, critical minerals, among many, many others. Nia, last time these two leaders met, it was not as productive in dealing with a lot of those issues.

HENDERSON: Yeah. And you imagine aside from the pageantry and Trump sort of groveling and showing him the gold in the White House, but not much will come of this either. You know, sort of the irony here is Donald Trump does talk about China in adversarial ways when he ran in 2016. He talked about China in very adversarial ways in the context of AI. He's still doing that. So, it's a bit of an, you know, sort of a mismatch to hear his sort of bellicose language about we've got to beat China on AI, and then he's going to, you know, sort of roll out the requirement (Ph).

RAJU: Yeah. And then who's who of tech leaders are showing up at the state dinner tomorrow night. Everyone from Elon Musk to Sam Altman, as you can see on your screen there. David, I remember when tough being tough on China was a Republican talking point on the campaign trail. We're not hearing a lot of that these days. Not as much of it, by the way, I wonder if Elon Musk and Sam Altman can be sitting next to --

(CROSSTALK)

CHALIAN: But yeah, you're hearing a little less of that these days, and I think that shows the influence of some of these tech leaders in in Republican politics. But I would also just note you started with though some of these vocal Republicans, whether Ted Budd or Roger Wicker or others, who are China hawks, who have expressed concern. And again, I think this gets back to the poll that we showed. You know, you talked about the Republicans who were breaking from him on Iran or trying to get.

I think Republicans feel like if you're a China hawk Republican, you feel a lot more free right now to speak up when Donald Trump is sitting at 33 percent. And I don't think the irony is lost on anyone that while the Chinese leader is here and you're talking about all the things he wants to show off. He chose this is the week to ban press access and that there will be no TV pool coverage of a lot of what Donald Trump does want to show the world.

RAJU: Yeah. We'll see what --

TYSON: But also, actual worry, right? I mean, a lot of these Republicans stuck by -- stood by this president for a long time, right? This is very new for them to be taking him on. They stood by and said he was doing the right thing over and over and over, and now they're not.

RAJU: Yeah.

TYSON: We have another story in the Washington Sun today that talks about how difficult a line that is for them because unless this has been your brand right along, our strategist told us, Republican strategist, this is a very hard sell.

RAJU: Yeah.

TYSON: And so, it's a strange situation to think about. Now they're saying, oh, I'm really worried about China with this guy. He's been saying the same stuff and doing a lot of the same stuff for a long time. They have not said anything until now.

RAJU: Yeah. We'll see what the voters ultimately think about that election year pivot, if you will. All right. Next, we are just moments away from the emergency hearing on President Trump blocking reporters from CNN, MS Now, and POLITICO from the White House. As the Justice Department claims, it's all about national security.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RAJU: We're just hours away from an emergency court hearing to restore CNN, MS Now, and POLITICO's access to the White House. It is a critical test of the First Amendment. In the court filing late last night, the Justice Department claimed the ban is justified because the news outlet's coverage of the Iran war and Trump's ballroom could be a national security risk.

CNN's Katelyn Polantz is following all development. So, Kaitlan, what's the latest?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CHIEF AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Manu, a critical First Amendment test at the hearing, but the Justice Department is trying to change that conversation. In the filing that they submitted to the court late last night, they wanted to make this about national security. And in the arguments in court, the Justice Department lawyers explained that there should be a level of trust they believe that the president should have with news outlets, and that trust is why CNN, MS Now, and POLITICO have been banned from the White House grounds.

Here's some quotes from the filings in the argument about national security. They say at the very least the government may control reporters' access to restricted presidential areas such as the Oval Office, even for viewpoint discriminatory reasons. So, if the president doesn't like what the outlets report, they also write, the president has found that plaintiffs, CNN, MS Now, and POLITICO have engaged in a number of reporting incidents that have threatened national security, such reporting directly raises national security concern.

One of those examples is reporting on the White House ballroom that was planned. That reporting came long ago before the correspondent or the reporter, Betsy Klein, tried to go to the White House and had her pass renewed last summer. There are also arguments that are going to be made, just not about the First Amendment, but other constitutional protections like due process.

All three news outlets are arguing extensively that they are being discriminated against in violating of the free press and the constitutional foundations. There that they are being retaliated against by this president because he doesn't like generally the -

[12:30:00]