Trump’s approval holds at record low as US support for Iran war falls, Reuters Ipsos poll finds
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The four-day poll showed just 31 per cent of Americans support US military action against Iran.
PHOTO: EPA
- US public support for military action against Iran has dropped to 31%, the lowest since the conflict began, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.
- President Donald Trump’s approval rating remains at a record low of 33%, influenced by declining backing for the war among Republicans.
- Most Americans (83%) believe the war will continue for a long time, showing increased concern about the conflict’s duration.
AI generated
WASHINGTON - US 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 Aug 24.
The four-day poll showed just 31 per cent of Americans support US military action against Iran, down from 37 per cent in a March Reuters/Ipsos poll and 34 per cent earlier in August.
The decline was driven by fewer self-identified Republicans backing the conflict.
Some 69 per cent of Republican respondents support the war, compared with 77 per cent in March.
The war has been dragging on Trump’s public standing in 2026, and for the second survey in a row just 33 per cent of respondents said they approved of the Republican’s performance in the White House, the lowest level in polls from Trump’s first or second term.
Trump has told Americans that the war - which started with US-Israeli attacks on Iran on Feb 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 US petrol prices near record highs.
Trump has vowed to ramp up economic pressure on Iran and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Aug 24 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.
Some 83 per cent of the country thinks the war will go on “for an extended period of time”, the Reuters/Ipsos poll found, up from 80 per cent earlier in August.
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, US petrol 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 Nov 3 midterm elections.
Independent voters in the poll favoured Democrats over Republicans - 33 per cent to 19 per cent - when asked who they would vote for in congressional elections if the election were held today.
The poll surveyed 1,215 US adults nationwide and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points in either direction. REUTERS
