By Trisha Bala ’22, News Editor

Only a couple months ago, Donald Trump was seemingly on top of the world. The Democratic efforts to impeach him had failed, his public support among independent voters had increased, stock markets were at an all-time high and the unemployment rate was at an all-time low. However, much has changed since then. Currently, the biggest threat to Donald Trump’s re-election is the coronavirus. Huge losses in the stock market, nationwide closures of businesses, disruptions to many major industries, crashing oil prices, and many other consequences of the virus. US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has warned of the possibility of 20% unemployment rates. Just in the week of April 18 alone, 4.4 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits. The new economic crisis that the United States is facing harms Trump’s chances for a second re-election more than any political test that he has previously faced in the past. 

A Republican donor, Dan Eberhart, said,“The economic ramifications are increasingly likely to weigh heavily on Trump’s re-election chances and quite possibly could cost him re-election.” While it is still too early to tell the story of what exactly will happen in the future, Alan Abramowitz, an analyst from University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, has models that suggest “a major recession would likely result in an Electoral College landslide for Trump’s Democratic challenger, especially if it is accompanied by a further decline in the president’s approval rating.” Polls published back in March showed that 37% of Americans had trust in Trump, while 60% said they had little to no trust in what Trump was saying at all. While 44% of Americans agree with Trump’s handling of the pandemic, a whopping 49% disagree. These ratings took another large drop in mid-April. Additionally, two-thirds of the nation believes Trump mishandled the early stages of the pandemic and subjected the country to unnecessary pain. As Trump continues to handle the pandemic situation, his ratings continue to decrease. 

President Trump faces a long uphill battle as the status of the American economy continues to plummet. In early April, it was reported that the recent jobs report was as bad as the worst of the 2008 recession. If the stock market, which tells what investors think the economy will do, drops more than 10% in one day, that’s a crash and could cause a recession. Recently, there was a 20% drop in the Dow. Trump’s desire to reopen the economy comes from his growing fear of losing the election. Based on the current status of the virus in the US, this is an extremely far-fetched notion and almost certainly will not happen. The public is growing less lenient with Trump and is no longer willing to give him the benefit of the doubt as he continues to handle the crisis. Trump stands to be blamed for the hardships that follow the crisis. With states beginning to re-open, it is likely that there will be a surge in the amount of virus cases. This could lead to an even longer shutdown period once states realize that they were not ready to be open. While the United States is waiting for a miracle to help us through this situation, Trump’s extreme popularity suggests that Trump will also need a miracle in time for the re-election.