The New York Times and Siena College just dropped a poll of 1,507 registered voters — conducted May 11 through May 15 — and the results read like a love letter to President Trump that the Gray Lady was forced to deliver at gunpoint. Fifty-five percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents want the next GOP nominee to "follow Trump's lead." The paper that spent a decade trying to destroy the man just proved he still dominates the party.
You almost have to feel sorry for the Times editors who had to publish this. Almost.
Let's walk through the carnage. Among self-identified Republicans — not leaners, not maybes, but card-carrying members of the elephant club — 65% want more Trump, not less. On immigration, 80% approve of how he's handling it. Eighty percent. That's not a political position, that's a consensus. And 77% want the next president, whoever that is, to continue Trump's immigration policies after he's gone.
The economic numbers are just as brutal for the "Trump is destroying America" crowd. A full 70% of respondents approve of Trump's handling of the economy. Now, 55% still view current conditions negatively — because groceries cost what a car payment used to — but voters aren't blaming the guy who's been in office for five months. They're blaming the last guy who was in office for four years. Funny how that works.
Here's where it gets really fun for the media class that's been writing Trump's political obituary since 2015. Roughly three-quarters of the Republican electorate approve of his overall job performance. And 88% — you read that right — plan to vote Republican in the fall elections. That's not a party. That's a movement with a dress code.
Now, the Times buried this next part because it doesn't fit the narrative, but 62% support Trump's decision on Iran. Sixty-eight percent believe the military campaign will eliminate Iran's nuclear program. Only 43% say the war is worth the costs so far, which is actually honest and healthy — Republicans aren't cheerleading war, they're supporting the mission while watching the price tag. That's called being a responsible adult, something the antiwar left pretends to understand.
The tariff numbers are the only place the Times found a crack to exploit, and even that's thin gruel. Thirty-one percent want a different direction on tariffs. Among younger Republicans ages 18 to 44, 47% oppose current trade policy. So roughly half of the youngest cohort is skeptical. The Times treated this like a five-alarm fire. The rest of us call it "a debate within a healthy party."
Meanwhile, Trump's approval among the broader electorate sits at 37%, which the Times highlighted like a kid showing off a participation trophy. What they didn't mention is that this same broader electorate includes the people who thought a mask on a toddler was "science" and that men could get pregnant. So forgive us if we're not panicking.
The real story Newsmax flagged — and the Times would rather you not notice — is the loyalty question. When 55% of your coalition says "more of this, please" and 88% says "we're voting red no matter what," you don't have a party in crisis. You have a party that knows exactly what it wants. The Democrats can't say the same. They can't even agree on whether biological sex is real.
Here's the bottom line the New York Times spent good money to discover and now wishes it hadn't: Donald Trump isn't just the leader of the Republican Party. He's the blueprint. And every dollar Siena College collected to run this survey just confirmed what 75 million voters already knew.
The Times will spin it. The pundits will cope. And Trump will keep winning.
