A Nervous Sunday for Trump, as Impeachment Talk, Polls, and Leaks Collide

On what aides had hoped would be a quiet Sunday morning, Donald J. Trump found himself confronting a familiar but newly sharpened anxiety: the possibility that power, once lost, could bring consequences. At a Turning Point USA gathering, allies took to the stage not to celebrate victories but to issue warnings. If Republicans lose control of the House, Speaker Mike Johnson cautioned, impeachment would follow. The message, intended to rally the faithful, instead underscored the unease now hovering over the Trump orbit.

The warning landed amid fresh polling that suggested a president increasingly isolated from key voting blocs. New numbers showed Mr. Trump’s approval sinking to 41 percent, with disapproval nearing 60 percent. More striking were the cross-tabs: among Hispanic voters, support appeared to have collapsed in a matter of months, swinging from near parity earlier in the year to overwhelming disapproval as the holiday season approached. For a president who built his brand on dominance and momentum, the optics were bruising.

Publicly, Mr. Trump’s allies insisted everything was fine—better than fine, even. On Capitol Hill, Senator Markwayne Mullin declared that Republicans deserved an “A-plus” for their performance, crediting Senate leadership and seamless coordination with the White House. Yet the insistence on excellence clashed with broader public sentiment. In the same surveys that charted Mr. Trump’s declining approval, Americans gave the economy dismal grades, with only a sliver rating it highly and a majority assigning it a C, D, or F.

The tension between message and reality was on vivid display at the Turning Point event itself. Erica Kirk, a leading figure in the organization, stumbled over her words while praising the movement’s perseverance, briefly labeling it a “grift” before correcting herself. The slip, quickly clipped and shared online, became an unintentional metaphor for critics who argue that the MAGA project has long blurred the line between ideology and enterprise.

Behind the scenes, the mood appeared no less brittle. Several prominent MAGA-aligned Republicans have recently stepped back from political ambitions, with some abandoning campaigns and others exiting public life altogether. Elise Stefanik’s abrupt withdrawal from New York’s gubernatorial race—and from politics more broadly—was read by many strategists as a sign that the brand’s gravitational pull may be weakening, especially in competitive states.

Compounding the unease are renewed controversies surrounding the Justice Department and the long-running Jeffrey Epstein saga. The Trump administration has faced criticism for releasing only a fraction of the Epstein-related files in its possession, citing the need to protect victims while redacting sweeping portions of the records. When photographs briefly appeared online—one showing images of Mr. Trump among other materials—they were quickly removed, prompting questions from journalists and victims’ advocates alike.

Those questions were put directly to Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general and Mr. Trump’s former criminal defense lawyer, during a tense exchange on Sunday television. Mr. Blanche denied any improper motive, calling suggestions of a cover-up “absurd,” and said the removals were made out of concern for individuals depicted. He also defended the transfer of Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s convicted associate, from a high-security prison to a more permissive facility shortly after he interviewed her, citing safety concerns amid heightened scrutiny.

The explanations did little to quiet skepticism. Critics noted Mr. Blanche’s dual role as a senior Justice Department official and a longtime Trump loyalist, arguing that the arrangement epitomized the blurred boundaries between law enforcement and political allegiance in this administration. The controversy has only fueled Democratic calls for deeper investigations should they regain congressional power.

Meanwhile, economic policy continues to generate friction. Administration officials have struggled to reconcile their claims about tariffs—often described as costs borne by foreign countries—with acknowledgments that American companies, and ultimately consumers, pay the price. Asked whether businesses would receive refunds if the Supreme Court rules against the administration’s tariff regime, the president’s economic adviser suggested such relief was unlikely, citing administrative hurdles.

Taken together, the episodes of the day painted a portrait of an administration under strain: defensive, insistent on its own success, and increasingly reliant on loyalty as a bulwark against bad news. For Mr. Trump, impeachment threats may still be hypothetical, but the Sunday morning cascade of polls, gaffes, and unresolved scandals offered a reminder that political control is fragile—and that the spotlight, once turned harsh, rarely moves on quietly.