President Donald Trump's approval rating has slipped deep below water on every issue measured by an independent monthly tracker poll for the first time in the survey's history. While Trump polled underwater on every issue with the tracker in February, March and May, this is the first time his rating has fallen well below zero across the board. The erosion spans issues Republicans have traditionally owned, which suggests the president is entering the final stretch before the midterms facing the most intense opposition of his second term.
A new Strength in Numbers/Verasight poll fielded August 14-19, which surveyed 1,514 U.S. adults ages 18 and older found Trump underwater on all 12 issues it tracks, as border security—his last positive rating—slipped to −5. The poll had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.6 percent. For most of the past year and a half, border security was the one issue keeping Trump's head above water, cresting at +11 in May 2025, according to the Strength in Numbers/Verasight poll.
Its fall into negative territory this month—even as the administration touts a hard-line crackdown—signals that voter frustration, driven above all by prices, is now bleeding into an area the president once dominated. Signs of softening amid Trump's own coalition could reshape the political terrain for down-ballot candidates in November. Border security had been Trump's reliable strength since his second inauguration in January 2025.
However, it dropped this month to −5, the worst figure recorded since the Strength in Numbers/Verasight tracker launched in May 2025. The timing is notable: On August 13, the Department of Homeland Security announced 15 straight months with zero migrant releases at the southern border and said daily apprehensions had fallen 94 percent from the last year of the Biden administration. But according to the polling data, voters do not appear to be rewarding the president for his enhanced immigration enforcement.
Trump's weakest issue also got weaker. Net approval on prices and inflation fell from −42 in July to −48, the lowest reading for any issue in the tracker's history. Only 24 percent of adults approve of how he's handling prices, with 72 percent disapproving.
Foreign policy dropped 7 points, trade fell 5, and jobs and the economy dropped 4. Education held flat, as did elections and democracy—but neither category was in strong shape to begin with. Notably, several issue ratings are falling faster than the president's overall number, a possible early sign of erosion that hasn't fully surfaced in the top line.
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