A majority of U.S. adults say that President Donald Trump’s decision to strike Iran was wrong, according to a new survey, as the war drags on and gas prices inch higher.
Sixty-one percent of U.S. adults said it was a mistake for the U.S. to use military force against Iran in a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll released Friday. Thirty-six percent viewed it as the right decision.
Separately, only 19 percent of respondents told the poll that they believed American military actions in the Middle East country this year have been successful, with 41 percent saying it is too soon to tell and 39 percent saying it has been not successful.
The results show many Americans have a dim view of the administration’s war ahead of the midterms, especially as cost-of-living expenses remain high. The average price of a gallon of gas hit $4.30 on Thursday, the highest in four years. The GOP’s Senate majority is at risk, the Republican super PAC Americans for Prosperity Action warned in a memo shared with POLITICO the same day.
The Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for 20 percent of the world’s oil, remains a focal point, as the war stretches into its third month. But Trump has continued to insist that Iran will soon capitulate. A U.S. blockade on Iran in the strait is costing the country $500 million a day, according to a White House official.
“We’re not going to let Iran have a nuclear weapon,” Trump told reporters Wednesday in the Oval Office. “We’ve knocked out their Navy. We’ve knocked out their air force. We’ve knocked out their anti-aircraft everything apparatus, everything they have.”
Republicans have largely remained behind the president, with 79 percent saying it was the right call for the U.S. military to use force against Iran.
But Americans aren’t so sure Trump will be able to achieve his main goal in the conflict. Just 8 percent of respondents told the poll they were “very confident” that an agreement to end the war would prevent Iran from developing new nuclear weapons.
And 60 percent of respondents said they believed American military action increased the odds of a U.S. recession, with just 37 percent saying it would decrease the chances or make no difference.
In a statement, White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said that the president’s military strategy isn’t based on public opinion.
“What matters most to the American people is having a Commander-in-Chief who takes decisive action to eliminate threats and keep them safe, which is exactly what President Trump did with the successful Operation Epic Fury,” he said. “President Trump campaigned proudly on his promise to deny the Iranian regime the ability to develop a nuclear weapon, and he’s kept his promise. The President does not make these incredibly important national security decisions based on fluid opinion polls, but on the best interest of the American people.”
The Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll was conducted from April 24-28, with a random sample of 2,560 U.S. adults. The margin of error for the poll is plus or minus 2 percentage points.
