Americans aren't sold on Iran attacks, new polls show
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Protesters gather outside the White House to demonstrate against attacks on Iran on March 2 in Washington, DC. Photo: Heather Diehl/Getty Images
Some five days into the sprawling Middle East conflict sparked by U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, significantly more Americans disapprove than approve of the attacks across several polls.
The big picture: President Trump has offered a mixed bag of motivations for the strikes and his plans to resolve the rapidly escalating conflict that has killed six U.S. service members.
- If early polling is any indication, the White House's reasoning isn't resonating with Americans.
Case in point: Nearly six in ten Americans disapproved of the decision to take military action in Iran, according to a Feb. 28 to March 1 CNN poll conducted by SSRS of 1,004 U.S. adults. Forty-one percent said they approved.
- Six in ten also said they don't think Trump has a clear plan for handling the situation, and 39% said the U.S. did not put in enough diplomatic effort before using military force.
- There is a sharp partisan divide: While 82% of Democrats and 68% of Independents or others strongly or somewhat disapproved, just 23% of Republicans shared that sentiment.
Zoom out: That party divide is shown across numerous polls which repeatedly depict a wary public, though significant shares of Republicans said they approve the strikes.
- A Monday YouGov survey of more than 1,600 U.S. adults found that nearly half (48%) strongly or somewhat disapproved of the attack, including the vast majority of Democrats (78%) and Independents (55%). Republicans overwhelmingly approved (76%).
- 43% of Americans disapproved the strikes in a Reuters-Ipsos poll released Sunday of more than 1,200 U.S. adults, though more than half of Republicans (55%) approve. Notably, 31% of Republicans polled said they weren't sure if they approved or not.
- Fox News polling found a more even split, with half of voters saying they approved of the strikes. A vast majority of the GOP agreed (84%), compared to 20% of Democrats and 40% of Independents.
Still, the strikes put Trump on a collision course with influential MAGA world voices who oppose the war but are more out of step with the president's base than he is.
- White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement provided to Axios that "President Trump makes decisions based on what's in the best interest of the United States and the American people."
- She continued, "Right now, the White House's main priority is working alongside the Pentagon and the interagencies to ensure the continued and ultimate success of the operation."
The bottom line: The administration is striking a victorious tone. But the public appears cautious of a conflict Trump warned would "likely" take more American lives.
Methodology: The margin of error for the March 2 YouGov survey is approximately 3%. The CNN study was conducted Feb. 28-March 1 with a margin of error of ±3.9. The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted Feb. 28 – March 1 by Ipsos with a margin of error of ± 2.8 points. The Fox News survey was conducted Feb. 28-March 2 and includes interviews with a sample of 1,004 registered voters with a margin of error of ±3 percentage points.
Go deeper: Americans fear Iran but question Trump's judgment: poll
