Americans aren’t thrilled that we’ve hit Iran with strikes, according to multiple polls conducted since President Donald Trump announced the attacks. This lack of support is unusual, according to one report.
“Support for the strikes is far lower than what it has been at the beginnings of previous foreign conflicts,” The New York Times said this Tuesday. It said that “even the highest level of public support for this conflict falls far lower than that at the start of most other conflicts, including World War II, the Korean War and the Iraq War.”
Polling from Fox News showed a 50%-50% split among Americans asked whether they approved or disapproved of the U.S. military action against Iran. However, 51% also said Trump’s handling of relations with Iran has made the U.S. less safe.
Reuters/Ipsos poll results released this week found just 29% of Americans approve of the strikes. That’s slightly more than the 27% approval right after the strikes were announced on Feb. 28.
Quinnipiac University polling showed that 53% of voters oppose the military action in Iran. Democrats (89%) and independents (60%) were more likely to oppose it than Republicans (11%). According to CNN polling, nearly six in 10 Americans disapprove of the U.S. decision to take military action in Iran. Most also expect a prolonged conflict.
Iran’s former supreme leader was killed in the initial attacks, but Trump has said he disapproves of the replacement leader. He has said that the conflict will continue until Iran surrenders to the U.S. or collapses.
Trump told CNN on Monday that he doesn’t want the conflict to go on long. He said he expected to go on for four weeks and said it is “a little ahead of schedule.”
how long the war might last, Trump said, “I don’t want to see it go on too long. I always thought it would be four weeks. And we’re a little ahead of schedule.”
Already, gas prices in the U.S. have spiked in the wake of the attacks. Experts who spoke to Audacy stations this week also predict this high gas prices to contribute to price increases in other areas, including groceries.
So far, seven U.S. soldiers have died as a result of retaliatory rocket and drone strikes from Iran in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. According to the Pentagon, 140 U.S. service members have been wounded in the conflict as of Tuesday, PBS News reported.
“The vast majority of these injuries have been minor, and 108 service members have already returned to duty,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in an emailed statement, according to the outlet. He added that eight were “severely injured.”
Most of the poll Quinnipiac poll respondents (74%) opposed sending ground troops into Iran. A plurality of CNN poll respondents also said they were opposed to sending in ground troops.
“I think it is extremely unpopular right now that our, our troops are dying in Iran, and now to put more of them at risk,” Patrick De Hann, chief petroleum expert for GasBuddy told Tommy Tucker of Audacy station WWL this week.