New polling spells disaster for GOP — including among Republican voters

As President Donald Trump continues to struggle with record-low approval ratings, a new NBC News poll released Monday revealed that Democrats appear well poised to take back control of Congress this November as the president’s unpopularity drags down the GOP ticket.

Conducted between Feb. 27 and March 3, the new poll asked 1,000 registered voters a series of questions, including what their preference was for the outcome of the upcoming midterms. While the poll included an equal number of Democratic and Republican voters, the results showed that Democrats held a 6-point lead in taking back Congress.

Regarding Trump, the president polled underwater in all but one topic, border security, where he managed a 53% approval rating. On all other topics polled, Trump scored below 50% among voters, and worse than he had on the same issues a year ago.

On foreign policy, for instance, Trump received a 43% approval rating, two percentage points worse than he’d polled one year ago. On inflation and cost of living, Trump dipped by six percentage points, dropping from 42% in March of 2025 to 36% this year.

Voters had also generally soured on the direction Trump was taking the country, with 34% saying his policies were bringing about the “wrong kind of change,” an increase of four percentage points when compared to a year ago. Those who said Trump was bringing about the “right kind of change” also slipped, from 46% in March of 2025 to 41% this year.

Republican lawmakers appear aware of their slipping approval among voters, with Sen. Joni Ernst (IA)) openly admitting Sunday night that the GOP was “underwater” with voters on immigration, once one of Trump’s and the GOP’s strongest performing issues. Ernst's assessment of her party’s slipping favorability, however, was that it was the Democrats’ fault for refusing to cooperate with Republicans on enacting reforms to U.S. immigration policy.