PoliticsKaitlan Collins Warns Donald Trump Is Making a 'Risky' Move Ahead of Midterms
Kaitlan Collins explained why Donald Trump may be making the wrong moves.
Sept. 3 2026, Published 2:37 p.m. ET
CNN host Kaitlan Collins reported that President Donald Trump's low approval ratings and his strategy to focus midterm campaigns on his own record create serious political risks for the Republican Party.
She warned that Trump is making a potentially “risky” move by heavily involving himself and trying to centralize the midterms around his widely unpopular administration.
She pointed out that the 80-year-old president's popularity is currently “underwater,” with personal approval at an “all-time low.”
The President's Approval Ratings Are Down
Kaitlan Collins believes Donald Trump's actions before the midterms is 'risky' for the Republican Party.
A CNN poll showed Trump's net approval rating at an abysmal minus 32 percent.
The Republican Party held an equally abominable net approval rating of minus 21 points.
She flagged widespread “voter anger” as driving the political climate, specifically citing the rising cost of living.
Trump's overall job approval dropped to roughly 34 percent, matching previous career lows.
Voters expressed widespread frustration over inflation and rising everyday expenses.
The CNN star said Americans are fed up with the war in Iran and inflation.
Collins highlighted Trump's “seemingly never-ending” war with Iran as a primary driver pushing national gas prices sharply higher right before voters head to the polls.
Trump’s prolonged, failing war in Iran has pushed national gas averages up to around $4.09 per gallon.
Polls indicated that roughly two-thirds of Americans disapproved of the administration's handling of the foreign conflict and its economic fallout.
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'It Will Be Bad, Really Bad or Truly Horrible'
Kaitlan Collins thinks the POTUS will 'put up more of a fight than he did in his first term' if Republicans lose.
Trump launched an advertising campaign and planned a high-profile convention in Texas to center the elections on his own presidency. Due to these underwater polling numbers, several Republican candidates skipped the party's upcoming convention to focus on their local districts.
In a related discussion on the "Pivot" podcast regarding the midterm landscape, Collins also noted that if the elections don't go his way and Democrats retake congressional power, Trump will "put up more of a fight than he did in his first term" against subsequent oversight and potential impeachment.
The midterms outlook for Republicans and Trump is bleak, according to experts.
On September 1, The Cook Political Report stated that for the Republican Party, "the three most plausible outcomes are that it will be bad, really bad, or truly horrible."
The report further mentions that "the worst-case scenario for the GOP and best for Democrats today would have sounded ludicrous eight months ago; the most plausible today resembles Republicans' nightmare scenario at the beginning of the year."
One strategist said Donald Trump's actions 'only helps the opposition.'
In a new op-ed published in The Wall Street Journal, veteran Republican strategist Karl Rove has issued a stark warning that President Trump's planned midterm campaign strategy could doom the GOP in the midterms.
Rove argued that Trump’s intention to center the election cycle around himself — via daily battleground rallies and extensive ad campaigns featuring his own likeness — will completely backfire on Republican candidates.
"What could go wrong with a rally a day and hundreds of millions of dollars in ads in battleground states featuring Mr. Trump? A lot," Rove wrote. "For starters, if your approval rating is low, making the election even more about you only helps the opposition."
