Political analyst John Kenneth White said on Monday that President Donald Trump is unlikely to regain his political standing. In a new opinion piece, he stated, “Trump cannot recover his political standing. “His presidency is over.” White, a professor emeritus at The Catholic University of America, linked this view to Trump’s declining public support and the backlash from the administration’s handling of the war in Iran.
White’s warning, reported by Raw Story, came as Trump faced new political backlash following weeks of conflict involving Iran. This war has resulted in U.S. casualties, fluctuations in financial markets, and increased oil prices. In an opinion article published by The Hill and featured in search results on Monday, White noted that Trump was governing “without the consent of the governed,” citing approval ratings around the low 40s.
Tucker Carlson on Iran:
Trump is being shown polling that this war is like a 90–10 win for him.
I don’t know where that polling is coming from. He is getting fake polling; I guess they are only polling Hannity’s viewers or something. pic.twitter.com/pRxhplKpOh
— Clash Report (@clashreport) March 7, 2026
The latest pressure on the White House stems from both outside and within Trump’s coalition. The Associated Press reported that, in the two weeks after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran, Trump struggled to explain why the war started and how it would end. The public was unsettled by American deaths, rising energy costs, and declining markets. The AP also mentioned that some of Trump’s supporters began to question his strategy as his overall poll numbers fell.
The war has led to a deep divide between MAGA diehards and ‘America First’ conservatives. The Guardian reported on Sunday that MAGA media figures were openly debating the war, revealing a divide between pro-war voices and longtime “America First” supporters who backed the president on the promise to avoid another prolonged foreign conflict. Former Trump official Joe Kent resigned in protest and has since attempted to rally opposition to the war within the president’s base, making an appearance on Tucker Carlson’s podcast.
Meanwhile, White House officials have continued to defend the President’s leadership. Reuters reported on Monday that the President announced a five-day pause on planned attacks against Iranian power plants and said the U.S. was discussing ways to end the conflict with Tehran. This announcement came after days of growing uncertainty over the administration’s next steps and ongoing disagreements about whether diplomacy had made any progress.
Joe Rogan said in a Tuesday episode of his podcast President Donald Trump’s supporters “feel betrayed” by the president’s war with Iran, calling the conflict “insane.”
Read more about his latest break with Trump after backing him in the lead-up to the 2024 presidential… pic.twitter.com/AicWcQg33m
— Forbes (@Forbes) March 11, 2026
Democrats have attempted to take advantage of the chaos as a message for the midterms. The AP reported that party officials now view the conflict and its related economic disruptions as an opportunity to argue that Republicans have not fulfilled their promises to reduce everyday costs. Kelly Dietrich, chief executive of the National Democratic Training Committee, told the AP that Democrats are “well-positioned” for the November midterms.
White’s argument rested on a straightforward political assessment. Quoting Abraham Lincoln, he wrote, “With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed.” He then summarized his conclusion even more bluntly: “Trump cannot recover his political standing. His presidency is over.” Whether this will prove to be accurate will unfold in the coming months, but the political and economic turmoil surrounding Iran has created one of the toughest periods of the president’s second term thus far.
