Donald Trump, the self-proclaimed “candidate of peace,” staked his presidential campaign against foreign wars. Yet over the weekend, without Congressional approval, President Trump launched a wave of airstrikes against Iran, effectively launching a new war in the Middle East with no plan for how it ends. Cutting-edge polling shows that just a quarter of Americans support Trump’s strikes on Iran. But even before Trump attacked, polling showed Americans were not interested in engaging in another new conflict with the second-largest country in the Middle East. The Trump administration has gutted Medicaid and food assistance under the auspices of “saving money,” but there’s clearly room in the budget for a war of choice in the Middle East. While Americans are being crushed by rising costs for basic necessities, Trump is pouring billions into a new foreign war. Just look at the numbers on how much the American people view Trump’s war-driven agenda:
The Latest Polling Suggests Americans Do Not Support Trump’s Strikes on Iran
- Only one in four Americans approves of Trump’s strikes on Iran (Reuters/Ipsos Poll).
- Nearly 6 in 10 Americans disapprove of the initial U.S. decision to take military action in Iran (CNN/SSRS Poll).
- A majority (52%) of Americans oppose Trump’s strikes against Iran, including 59% of Independents and unaffiliated voters (Washington Post Poll).
- A majority of Independent voters (52%) disapprove of Trump’s strikes on Iran (YouGov Snap Poll).
- A majority of Americans (52%) still disapprove of Trump’s foreign policy amid Trump’s strikes on Iran (Morning Consult Poll).
- Most Americans think Trump is too willing to use military force to advance U.S. interests (Reuters/Ipsos Poll).
- Just 18% of Americans think the U.S. should continue military operations if the conflict with Iran leads to significantly higher gas prices (Morning Consult Poll).
Americans Never Wanted This War: Pre-Strike Polling Showed Deep Disapproval
- Only 21% of Americans supported the U.S. initiating a strike on Iran before Trump launched his attack (University of Maryland Poll).
- Only 27% of Americans said they trusted Trump to make the right choices when it comes to the use of military force abroad. (Associated Press-NORC Center Poll).
- Even before the strikes, 47% of Americans said the U.S. government is too focused on international issues and not focused enough on domestic ones (Politico Poll).
- Just 18% of Americans thought the U.S. should remove Iran’s leadership from power with force before Trump’s strikes on Iran. 60% preferred negotiations or sanctions, and 22% preferred no involvement at all (CBS News Poll).
- Three in four Americans said Trump needed approval from Congress for military action against Iran in polling taken days before Trump’s strikes (CBS News Poll).
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