Poll shows Trump’s Iran war loses support from Americans as anger grows

Washington: U.S. public approval of the war with Iran fell to its ​lowest level since the conflict's early ​days, helping to hold President Donald Trump's popularity at a record ​low, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that closed on Monday.

The four-day poll showed just 31% of Americans support U.S. military action against Iran, down from 37% in a March Reuters/Ipsos poll and 34% earlier this month. ‌The decline was ⁠driven ⁠by fewer self-identified Republicans backing the conflict. Some 69% of Republican respondents support the war, compared with 77% in ​March.

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The war has been dragging on Trump's public standing this year, and for the second survey in ​a row just 33% of respondents said they approved of the Republican's performance in the White House, the lowest level in Reuters/Ipsos polls in Trump's first or second term.

Trump has told ​Americans that the war - which started with U.S.-Israeli attacks on ⁠Iran on ‌February 28 - is necessary to keep Tehran from developing a nuclear ​weapon. The conflict ​has cooled in recent months but Iran has kept in place ⁠a de facto blockade of oil exports from the region, which ​has pushed U.S. gasoline prices near record highs.

Trump has vowed to ​ramp up economic pressure on Iran and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday announced a possible expansion of sanctions on countries doing business with the country, but stopped short of actually imposing penalties, a sign of how thorny the conflict has become for the administration.

FEARS OF A LONG WAR

Some 83% of the country thinks the war will go on "for an ‌extended period of time," the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll found, up from 80% earlier this month.

Also Read: Iran vows to retaliate after US widens sanctions

Trump campaigned ahead of the 2024 presidential election on promises to ​control inflation and ​avoid lengthy military conflicts. ⁠Six months into the war with Iran, U.S. gasoline prices are more than a dollar higher per gallon than they were before the war. That is weighing on Trump's Republican allies ​who will be defending narrow congressional majorities in the November 3 midterm elections.

Independent voters in the poll favored Democrats over Republicans - 33% to 19% - when asked who they would vote for in congressional elections if the election were held today.

The poll surveyed 1,215 U.S. adults nationwide and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points in either direction.