Trump remains popular "in spite of it all" because those who despise his supporters refuse to understand why they support him. Why refuse? Equal measures of spite. To better understand, change the word "partner" to "political enemy" in your comment guideline "If you disagree, try getting curious about what your partner is thinking".
You could make that less parochial by rephrasing to something like:
There is a worldwide rise in nationalism and populism and corresponding rejection of globalism, leading to worse leaders. This rise is poorly understood by elites, which lessens hope that this trend is going away soon.
Trump remains popular "in spite of it all" because those who despise his supporters refuse to understand why they support him. Why refuse? Equal measures of spite. To better understand, change the word "partner" to "political enemy" in your comment guideline "If you disagree, try getting curious about what your partner is thinking".