President Trump entered 2025 and the White House intending to disrupt the way things had been done in Washington.
At year's end, it's clear he did so. But he is also closing 2025 at a political low point, facing questions about his flagging approval ratings, particularly on the economy, and worries among Republicans over how they will fare in the midterms.
The president’s first year back in the White House featured several wins for his administration — particularly when it came to issues he campaigned on such as the border and immigration.
But Trump is ending the year anywhere from 8 to 10 percentage points underwater on job approval, which appears to be largely tied to American sentiments about the economy.
As 2025 ends, here are four questions Trump faces:
Was it a successful first year back?
Yes and no. But there have been some notable wins.
Trump campaigned on immigration, promising mass deportations and securing the southern border. As of earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security said it had deported more than 605,000 people from the U.S. since Jan. 20, and border crossings have plummeted compared with those under the Biden administration, The Hill’s Brett Samuels recently wrote.
The president also pledged to extend the tax cuts he signed into law during his first term. He did so by signing into law perhaps his most notable piece of legislation over the summer: the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Other wins for the administration include securing the first phase of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, lowering the size of the federal government through the efforts of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and pressuring universities to limit diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives by threatening to withhold funding.
▪ The Hill: Rove says Trump administration needs to talk more about accomplishments ahead of midterms
▪ The New York Times: Trump Promised Radical Change in His Second Term. Here’s What He’s Done So Far.
Even these policy wins have had downsides. While polling shows Americans are still largely supportive of Trump’s immigration efforts, a recent Pew Research Center survey found a majority of respondents saying the administration is doing “too much” on deportations. Budget experts have said the tax law could add trillions to the national debt, Samuels also wrote. The DOGE cuts have faced public criticism and, in some cases, have been reversed.
Trump has also faced headwinds in other areas. His promise to swiftly end the Russia-Ukraine war has not yet been realized. The sweeping tariffs he prioritized are currently under Supreme Court scrutiny and haven’t yet yielded any obvious economic benefits. The story about the Jeffrey Epstein files has also followed Trump for months and played a big role in the end of his relationship with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).
And, as of Monday, Trump has a roughly 44 percent approval rating, according to polling averages from DDHQ, a partner of The Hill. That number represents an uptick from early November, when it was closer to 42 percent amid the record-long government shutdown.
But the broader picture is less positive. The president’s approval rating hasn’t been above water since February, according to DDHQ. The average hasn’t come close to the 56 percent it reached on Inauguration Day, when Trump was coasting off his 2024 win, as The Hill’s Julia Mueller recently covered.
Can Trump turn the tide on affordability?
The term was perhaps the word of the year for Democrats, as they sailed to several off-year election victories by focusing on kitchen table economics.
▪ The New York Times: How Democrats Used One Word to Turn the Tide Against Trump
The president during the 2024 campaign vowed to “end inflation” and “immediately bring prices down” if elected. The results so far have been more mixed: The November inflation report showed that food and energy prices were up 2.6 percent and 4.2 percent, respectively, from an annual perspective.
But Trump has also received good economic news. The same November inflation report showed prices in general appearing to grow at a far slower rate than projected, and other data revealed that the U.S. economy grew at a 4.3 percent annual rate in the third quarter — also defying expectations.
▪ CBS News: Trump says U.S. prices are "coming down tremendously." Here's what the data shows.
One key query within this broader question for Trump: How does the White House find a way to tackle the affordability problem given the fact that the president bristles at the word? He has said he prefers to use the term “groceries,” and often calls affordability a Democratic “hoax.”
This might be at least partially why the president’s inner circle has worked recently to try to keep him on script, The Hill’s Julia Manchester reports. Chief of staff Susie Wiles has pushed Trump to get back on the “campaign trail” and played a role in getting him to deliver a recent national address in which he touted his administration’s efforts.
Will foreign policy dominate domestic concerns?
International affairs have consumed Trump’s time toward the end of 2025, highlighted by recent high-profile meetings at Mar-a-Lago.
Trump still hopes to play a role in decidedly ending the two wars in which those leaders are enmeshed. But this foreign policy focus might come at the expense of domestic issues.
One Republican strategist, who requested anonymity to speak candidly, told Samuels that Trump and the White House will need to make the argument directly to voters about what they’ve done to help boost their financial outlook since taking office.
“Trump is focused on foreign affairs. Where’s his energy been?” the strategist said. “It’s just kind of a weird time for a voter; you don’t really have someone trying to make the argument.”
There’s also the matter of Venezuela, where the Trump administration has mounted an intense pressure campaign aimed at its strongman leader, President Nicolás Maduro.
The CIA’s reported recent drone attack on a Venezuelan port facility marked the first known land strike inside Venezuela. The move keeps Trump’s options open while also carrying risk, The Hill’s Filip Timotija reports. On Tuesday, the administration also announced sanctions against Iran and Venezuela, targeting companies that have been involved in the production and sale of drones.
An intrahemisphere conflict could only further consume Trump’s attention and hurt his preferred label as the “peace president.”
Can Trump and the GOP regain momentum?
One consistent trend for the president: A good defense is to go on offense.
This strategy could play out in the realm of affordability in 2026. But this week, the Trump administration is focusing on a different financial story, sending federal authorities to Minneapolis to investigate “rampant fraud” in Minnesota.
Much of the president’s conservative base has claimed Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) is failing to adequately crack down on fraud — allegations the governor’s office adamantly rejects.
Of the 98 people charged in connection to the fraud in the state’s safety net programs, federal prosecutors say the vast majority are of Somali ancestry, according to The Hill’s Sarah Fortinsky. Trump himself has attacked Somali immigrants multiple times in recent weeks, and Vice President Vance said over the weekend that “what’s happening in Minnesota is a microcosm of the immigration fraud in our system.”
The president and his allies are trying to put the focus of the fraud scandal on the state’s Democratic leader, but it’s possible they would like to tie it to the Democratic Party in general.
Programming note: Morning Report is taking a break Thursday for New Year's Day. In the meantime, sign up for The Hill’s Tipsheet to get the day’s top headlines. We’ll be back in your inboxes Friday.
