In the face of plummeting approval numbers for the Republican Party, Donald Trump is being urged to reassert his dominance over a GOP that has grown increasingly panicky as the 2026 midterms loom.

This week, a Fox News poll showed Republicans facing a possible wipe-out in the next election, a collapse that MS NOW host Joe Scarborough called “staggering” on Thursday morning.

That news has Steve Bannon warning Trump that a turnaround is going to have to come out of the White House.

As Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen of Axios reported, “Everywhere Republicans look, they see big political trouble,” before adding, “They see it in the top November races, where they got cooked. They see it in rising internal MAGA drama and division. And they increasingly see it in private and public polls showing President Trump's persistently plummeting popularity on key issues.”

Pointing out to Republicans, “You can't spin yourself out of reality,” the Axios founders wrote that a Trump insider told them, “People are depressed.” To bolster the GOP’s woes, the two observed, “In Wisconsin, the swingiest of swing states, a new Marquette Law School Poll shows Democrats are more motivated and more popular heading into the 2026 elections. Voters are flunking Trump on the economy and inflation. These numbers are brutal: 36% approve of the Trump economy, and 28% approve of his handling of inflation and the cost of living.”

Pressed for what Trump should do to stop the slide that is freaking out GOP lawmakers, Bannon replied to an Axios inquiry with, “Let's run the table [with] a simple plan, aggressively executed. The President may have to bang some heads. [His] entire plan has an objective of GROWTH, JOBS, HIGHER WAGES — now execute."

The Axios report noted, “Yes, Trump is right that Trump and Republicans do well when he's on the ballot. But he never will be again. And if you look at other recent elections without Trump running, you see why Republicans are panicky.

More often than not, they lose.”

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