The United States has carried out military strikes against Iran since February 28, a move that has already proven to be controversial for President Donald Trump.
President Trump’s approval rating shows that the Republican Party faces difficulties heading into the upcoming midterm elections. Several polls over the past few months suggest that many voters think President Trump should focus on the economy and the cost of living, which are his top priorities.
President Trump and his administration officials have argued that Iran poses an imminent threat. They have repeatedly said that Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles capable of attacking the United States. But national security analysts and experts on Iran and its ruling regime told USA TODAY that these claims are based on assumptions that are either false or greatly exaggerated.
The move has already sparked a backlash from some prominent MAGA figures as well as Democratic lawmakers who say Trump should have been approved by Congress.
What is President Trump’s approval rating for predicting a weeks-long operation in Iran? Here’s what you need to know.
What is Donald Trump’s approval rating?
President Trump’s approval rating has been a net negative since the spring of his first year in office, according to an average calculated by the New York Times and RealClearPolitics aggregators. It was relatively stable from April to November, then suddenly fell, rebounded slightly in December, and fell again towards the beginning of the year.
As of March 2, 43.3% approve of President Trump’s performance, while 54.5% disapprove, according to a graph from RealClearPolitics. The lowest approval rating for term was 42% on February 17th. The net approval rating was also the worst, at -13.5 points.
As of March 2, 41% of Americans approve of President Trump’s job performance, according to a New York Times tally. This is one step higher than the paper’s lowest approval rating for President Trump (40%), which was reached for the first time on February 12th. The disapproval rate is also 56%. His disapproval rating peaked at 57% on March 1st.
Reuters/Ipsos: One in four people support attacking Iran
Only one in four Americans supports the attack on Iran that killed leader Ali Khamenei, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released less than 48 hours after the United States and Israel launched a deadly joint military strike.
In the poll, about 27% of respondents said they supported a strike, but a majority said they were either unsure about it (29%) or did not support it (43%).
The two-day poll, which ended March 1, found that about half of respondents (56%) believe President Trump is too willing to use military force to advance U.S. interests.
A majority of Democrats (87%) hold this view, as do 23% of Republicans and 60% of those with no party affiliation.
The poll surveyed 1,282 adults nationwide and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
American reaction leading up to the Iran attack
Surveys conducted in the weeks leading up to the early-morning attack on Saturday, February 28, showed that attitudes toward a potential conflict with Iran appeared to be swaying based on hypothesized motives amid a massive build-up of the U.S. military presence in the region.
In a CBS News/YouGov poll conducted the day before the airstrike, 51% of respondents said they supported U.S. military action against Iran to stop Iran from building a nuclear weapon.
However, when the CBS poll asked about their preference for how the United States should approach Iran’s current leadership, a majority of respondents said they would prefer diplomacy or sanctions over military action, at 38% and 22%, respectively. Only 18% said they wanted to remove U.S. leadership by force, and another 22% said they did not want any involvement.
In a poll conducted by the University of Maryland in early February, 49% of respondents said they opposed the US launching an attack on Iran, and another 30% said they were unsure whether they supported or opposed it. Support was highest among Republicans at 40%, while 21% of independents and just 6% of Democrats felt the same way.
An AP-NORC Center poll conducted the weekend before the airstrike found that 48% were “very” or “extremely” concerned about Iran’s nuclear program as a direct threat to the United States.
But the survey also showed low confidence in President Trump’s ability to manage military forces and relations with America’s adversaries. A majority (56%) said they had “a little” or “not at all” confidence in the president regarding the use of military force outside the United States, and a similar number (55%) indicated similarly low confidence levels in President Trump’s handling of adversaries.
Only 27% of Americans and 14% of independents say they trust the president to make the right choices when it comes to using military force overseas.
Kathryn Palmer is USA TODAY’s political reporter. She can be reached at the following address:kapalmer@usatoday.com And to X@Kathryn Purml. Sign up for her daily politics newsletter here.
Kinsey Crowley is a Trump Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Please contact KCrowley@usatodayco.com. follow her X (Twitter), blue sky and TikTok.
