Poll Shows US Voters Have Disapproved of Trump's War of Choice Against Iran From Beginning to End

As talks to end the US-Israeli war on Iran were delayed Friday by continued attacks by the Israel Defense Forces in Lebanon, new polling showed Americans are eager to see the conclusion of the conflict that began in February—confirming that at no point since the Trump administration and Israel began the assault has the war been popular with the public.

Nearly two-thirds of respondents to an Associated Press/NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll taken from June 11-17 said they were unhappy with President Donald Trump's handling of issues with Iran, which he began attacking as he insisted the country must not have enriched uranium that can be used to make a nuclear weapon and that the US must "destroy their missiles."

One independent voter from Plano, Texas told the AP that he was frustrated by Trump's decision to wage an unprovoked war on Iran—which followed an invasion of Venezuela and threats against Greenland and Cuba—after the president made ending US foreign wars a central campaign promise in 2024.

“I would like the war to end,” the voter, Donald McBride, told the AP. “The original objective of the war was to end the Iranian regime, and that’s just not possible. I don’t really know why we’d continue fighting.”

The poll was in line with an analysis of eight reputable surveys that were taken in early March, just days after Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began the attacks—a decision Secretary of State Marco Rubio said was made by the Trump administration because the White House believed Iran would retaliate against bombing that Israel was intent on starting.

Those surveys found that just 38% of voters approved of the military strikes against Iran in the days after they began, with polling expert G. Elliott Morris warning that "wars only get less popular” over time.

That quickly proved true in this case, with Americans almost immediately feeling the effects of Iran's retaliatory strategy after the country effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, sending gas prices skyrocketing. In late April, 78% of respondents to a Reuters/Ipsos poll said they were very concerned about the rising cost of fuel, and 77% blamed Trump.

Fifty-eight percent also told Reuters two months into the Iran War that they'd be less likely to vote for a candidate who supported Trump's actions against Iran.

In the poll released Friday, 53% of voters said the US military action against Iran has gone "too far," slightly down from 59% who said so in March. The poll was taken as the US released a memorandum of understanding with Iran and as the president indicated a retreat from the central demands he had made regarding Israel's missiles and nuclear program, which Iranian officials have maintained is not for military purposes.