President Trump’s approval rating remains underwater, with a variety of economic issues — primarily inflation, but also trade and government stakes in private companies — representing the biggest anchors for the president and his party as the midterm elections are less than three months away.

The economic drag on his approval has been a feature of Trump’s second term, but voters’ harsh verdicts on the economy have sharpened in recent months and are evident in dozens of recent polls.

A compilation of approval ratings maintained by Nate Silver’s Substack paints a grim picture for the president, with 58.3% of voters saying they disapprove of his overall performance versus 38.3% registering a positive response in a -20% net approval rating.

The picture gets even worse when you drill into economic issues.

The president’s net approval rating on trade, one of Trump’s signature issues, is -25.7%. It’s worse, at -29.6%, on the economy overall, according to Silver’s calculations as of Friday. 

The worst issue for the president is inflation, with a dismal -42.4% net approval rating. All three numbers have been on a downward trajectory throughout Trump’s second term in office.

Americans’ dimming views of the US economy were further echoed Friday as a consumer sentiment reading for August fell to 51 from 55.2 in July.

“Decreases in sentiment were seen across the political spectrum, with Republicans exhibiting the strongest month-to-month decline in August,” survey director Joanne Hsu said.

She added that sentiment among Republicans is now at its lowest level since the 2024 election.

Second-term lows for Trump

Economic issues are the dominant negative in Trump’s ratings, a complete turnabout from his first term, when the economy pulled his ratings up.

Silver recently noted that Trump’s overall ratings are at a second-term low and that the data “lines up remarkably well with gas prices and the resumption of hostilities in Iran.”

The story is similar in a compilation of polls by RealClearPolitics, with inflation a standout issue at 30.5%, far below other issues tracked, such as foreign policy, immigration, and crime.

A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll is emblematic of the overall trends, with economic issues like the US economy, “your cost of living,” and inflation (as well as Iran) all coming in below the president’s overall approval rating of 38%. In that survey, 71% of registered voters disapproved of the president’s handling of inflation.

The dim view of the president’s economic stewardship is also in evidence on other economic issues.