Polls find only 28% of Americans think Iran war worth fighting
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that whether Iran is trying to influence the midterm elections “won’t have any impact on me,” as polls showed 68% of respondents said the war is not worth fighting, and concern among Republican voters, as indicated by poll numbers showing conditional support.
“Probably. It won’t have any impact on me,” Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, according to remarks reported by The Guardian. “I’m just going to do the right thing. I don’t view it as: ‘Gee, we’re having an election in a period of time.’ You know, everyone says: ‘Oh, I’m doing something before’ — no. The election — I can’t think about that having to do with this.”
The president added: “I think people are very impressed.”
A Washington Post-Ipsos poll published last week found that 28% of Americans believe the war in Iran is worth fighting, while 68% said it is not. The same survey found that 29% of people think “America’s leadership in the world has gotten stronger” under Trump; 52% think it has weakened. Just 17% of respondents said they were financially better off now than when Trump became president.
Even among self-identified MAGA voters, support for the war appeared conditional. A Politico poll released Wednesday found that 37% of MAGA voters said the U.S. should continue the war only if it does not increase costs. Fifty-seven percent of MAGA voters attributed the rise in gas prices to the war in Iran. Gas prices have risen to more than $4 a gallon, up from about $3 when Trump took office.
During a Senate hearing Tuesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Iran war has cost $37.5 billion so far, and asked Congress to approve an $88 billion supplemental funding request.
Fox News host Laura Ingraham, who is usually a staunch Trump supporter, warned the president Monday that the war could damage Republican prospects in November.
“With the midterm elections a little more than 100 days away, the clock is ticking for President Trump to get out of this war before voters head to the polls. It’s making a lot of Republicans nervous. It’s already, as we know, unpopular,” Ingraham said on her show. “Republicans cannot let this become an endless distraction, especially if they want to win in November.”
Trump is in his second term and ineligible to run for reelection. According to The Guardian’s report, a Democratic-majority House could move to impeach him again, but the Senate would be highly unlikely to convict. The report also said Trump’s personal income last year was $2.2 billion.