Karl Rove Warns That ‘Americans Are Already Exhausted’ by Trump and His Thirst for ‘Revenge’: This ‘Will End Badly for Him’

Legendary GOP political operative Karl Rove warned that “Americans are already exhausted” by President Donald Trump and his thirst for revenge in his latest column for The Wall Street Journal.

Under the headline “America Gets Trump Fatigue,” Rove submitted that “We aren’t 100 days into Donald Trump’s second term and many Americans are already exhausted. They’ve had way too much thrown at them.”

“Voters made crystal clear what they sought during the 2024 election. They wanted prices to come down and the economy revved up. The Southern border had to be closed, our military strengthened and a strong leader installed in the Oval Office,” he continued. “Some of that we’re getting, especially regarding the border. Other things—the rebuilding of the military—appear to be in the works. But on the key issue of the economy, Americans aren’t happy. Mr. Trump’s campaign promise to break inflation has been replaced by a fixation on raising tariffs, which nearly three-quarters of Americans expect to hike prices. We’re also confused: Is the goal getting trading partners to lower their tariffs on U.S. goods and services? Or replacing our income tax with high tariffs on foreign goods?”

Rove went on to observe that “Message discipline has never been Mr. Trump’s strength,” and that the president “relishes creating” drama, as well as to marvel at the fact that Trump’s team “doesn’t spend much time drawing attention to the president’s successes. Rather than patiently explaining his actions and why they’re good for Americans the president and his advisers move from one thing to another, seemingly at random.”

The political architect of George W. Bush’s two successful presidential campaigns also argued that “there’s way too much retribution,” declaring that “Most of the president’s revenge attempts will end badly for him. Republicans could rue the day they set a new justification for retaliation from Democrats.”

“We already know the country remains highly polarized. Democratic and Republican true believers are locked in. It’s the 15% to 20% of voters who didn’t like their choices last year that matter most. Mr. Trump started with 50.5% approving, 44.3% disapproving in the RealClearPolitics polling average a week after he was sworn in. Those RCP numbers went upside down March 13 and today stand at 46.9% approving, 50.3% disapproving, a nearly 10-point margin shift in the wrong direction. My hunch is things will get worse before they get better,” he concluded. “That won’t matter for Mr. Trump’s ardent fans. For them, the past eight weeks have been exhilarating. But in the non-MAGA world—which includes independents and Republicans—the start of Mr. Trump’s second term has been exhausting.”

Rove has previously cautioned Trump against too much “happy talk” on the economy,  while the Journal has relentlessly inveighed against his trade policy.