A veteran Republican pollster offered President Donald Trump some poignant advice as his approval ratings continue to dip. Recent polls have shown Trump’s approval ratings hovering at around 40 percent – despite a high favorability rating going into his second term.

Frank Luntz, a political consultant and pollster, told CNN’s Jessica Dean on Sunday that the change is ‘significant’ – and suggested that the president change his messaging on key issues if he ever wants to see his approval ratings shoot back up. He noted that Trump maintained relatively high approval ratings through March, ‘and over the tariff situation, it became more and more negative.’

‘It’s those who didn’t like him now have really turned against him and among independents, swing voters, people who are not ideological or partisan – those are the people who are saying, “I don’t like what’s happening right now,”‘ Luntz said, claiming that Trump still has wide support among his base.

He went on to say that most Americans still support the administration’s conservative priorities – but are unhappy about how Trump is carrying out his plans. ‘It’s the execution and the communication behind it that has begun to turn some Americans against this president,’ Luntz told Dean.

‘My argument as a pollster is that you have to represent all of America, and there’s an increasing percentage of America that is saying, “Yes I want safe streets but not throwing people out of the country. Yes, I want our borders under control, but in a responsible way. Yes, I want China to be dealt with and not for American manufacturing to suffer, but not with these tariffs.”‘ To regain their support, Luntz argued, Trump needs to articulate that ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’ and the benefits of his worldwide tariffs will take time.

But that has become increasingly difficult to do in the age of social media, the pollster admitted. ‘It becomes absolutely a prerequisite of the administration to focus not only on what the public expects of this administration, but on the ability to get things done,’ he said. ‘You got to give them time – these numbers won’t matter a year from now,’ Luntz concluded.

‘But it is an indication that people have some significant anxiety and most important, it’s an indication that there needs to be some empathy for those who are afraid for their 401ks or afraid for their investments and who believe that things need to become more affordable, more available – and they question whether that’s going to happen in the coming weeks and months.’ In the recent polls, an increasing number of Americans have expressed concerns about Trump’s tariff plans.

A new Reuters/Ipsos poll, for example, shows his backing is at 42 percent with only 37 percent approving of his handling of the economy. A New York Times/Sienna poll also found that most Americans do not believe Trump should be able to levy his global tariffs without authorization from Congress or unilaterally end programs adopted by the Legislative Branch.

On the issue of immigration, a new Washington Post/ABC and Ipsos poll found that 53 percent of Americans disagree with the president’s handling of immigration in the United States, while 46 percent are in favor of it. That’s quite a turnaround from his numbers in February when 50 percent approved and 48 percent didn’t. In total, Fox News reported that Trump now has an approval rating of 44 percent – one point behind where he was at the same point in his first term.

By contrast, President Joe Biden was at 54 percent, Barack Obama was at 62 percent, and George W. Bush was at 63 percent – indicating that the second-term Trump is not enjoying any kind of comparable political ‘honeymoon.’ And an Economist/YouGov poll found that American citizens believe Trump has hurt the country more than helped it by a 24-point margin. It found that 66 percent of voters described Trump’s second term as ‘chaotic,’ while 59 percent said he was ‘scary,’ and just 42 percent said he was ‘exciting.’

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