WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Just one in four Americans believes President Donald Trump’s war with Iran was worth its costs ‌and a majority worry that a truce with Tehran is unlikely to last, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found.
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The five-day poll, which closed on Monday, also showed the war weighing heavily on Trump’s popularity, with his approval rating dropping to 34%, a return to the lowest level of the Republican’s second term that was last touched in an April survey.
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Only 23% of Americans — including just half of Republicans — think the US is now in a stronger position with Iran compared with its position before the war, the poll found. Some 35% of respondents think it is in a weaker position. The rest â said they were not sure or that the US position was about the same as before.
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Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a preliminary deal on June 17 that would reopen oil and gas shipping lanes that were frozen by the conflict, while easing US-led economic pressure on Iran.
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The deal has led to a rapid drop in global crude oil prices, although for most Americans the price of gasoline remains considerably higher than it was before the February 28 US-Israeli strikes that started the war. Iran responded to the initial attack with strikes that shut down a fifth of the global oil trade and damaged energy facilities of US regional allies.
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NOT WORTH THE COSTS
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Only 24% of Americans think the war with Iran was worth the costs, the Reuters/Ipsos poll showed. Half of poll respondents said the conflict was not worth it and the rest were unsure.
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Some 63% of Americans think it unlikely that the deal Trump signed will lead to ‌lasting peace â between the two countries. About half of Republicans and eight in 10 Democrats said the deal was unlikely to deliver peace. Just 18% of Americans — including 10% of Democrats and 34% of Republicans — see lasting peace as likely.
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Trump won the 2024 presidential election after promising to reduce inflation and keep America out of costly foreign wars. His political brand has long leaned on his background as a deal-making real estate developer and reality television star.
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Trump’s approval rating on the cost of living, at 22%, was near the lowest â level of his presidency and below the rating of his Democratic predecessor in the White House, Joe Biden, at the end of his presidency.
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MIDTERMS LOOM
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Trump started his current term with a 47% approval rating, but his popularity has suffered amid high rates of inflation as well as controversy over his aggressive efforts to deport people in ​the country illegally, â which have included deadly confrontations with pro-immigration activists.
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His falling popularity could weigh on his Republican allies when they defend their congressional majorities in the November 3 midterm elections. The Reuters/Ipsos poll showed that just 17% of independent registered voters said they would vote for the Republican in their district if the election were held â today, compared with 34% who said they would pick the Democrat.
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The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll showed just 37% of Americans approved of how Trump has handled immigration, the lowest of his term and down from 40% in the prior Reuters/Ipsos poll.
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The latest poll gathered responses from 1,262 US adults nationwide and its results had a margin of error of 3 percentage points in either direction.