Rolling Stone reports:

As Donald Trump launched his militarized crackdown in Los Angeles, the president and many of his advisers were convinced that deploying troops to the streets of a major American city would be good politics for them. They maintain, three people familiar with the matter say, that immigration was one of Trump’s strongest issues, that it helped get him back in the White House, and that his mass deportation program has polled well since the 2024 campaign.

No matter the pushback to Trump sending in the troops (likely illegally) from Democrats, the media, or protesters, the administration’s brain trust saw this as a winner for them — and something they wish to replicate. “If it works out well in L.A., expect it everywhere,” a Trump administration official said of the president’s desire for militarized Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids across the nation. (This official and the other three sources spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss internal deliberations.)

But just days into Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops and Marines to quell anti-ICE protests in L.A., new public polling suggests that Trump’s recent deportation operations, and his decision to use the military against his domestic enemies, are not boosting his approval ratings.

In fact, Trump’s latest power grab is tanking his latest numbers. [Continue reading…]