US Politics
Only one in four Americans support Trump’s airstrikes on Iran, poll finds
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Only one in four Americans support Donald Trump’s airstrikes on Iran and most believe the president is too willing to use military force, according to a new poll.
Just over a quarter (27 percent) said they approved of the strikes, which were carried out in the early hours of Saturday alongside the Israeli military, while 43 percent disapproved and 29 percent said they were not sure.
The poll, conducted by Reuters/Ipsos, found that 56 percent of respondents thought that the president was too quick to use force to advance U.S. interests, following strikes in Syria, Nigeria and Venezuela in recent months.
Though the vast majority (87 percent) of Democrats held that view, almost one in four Republicans (23 percent) also thought Trump was too willing to deploy force.
The poll was conducted while the strikes by the U.S. and Israel were going on but before the announcement of American casualties. As of Sunday three U.S. servicemen had been killed and five others had been injured in Operation Epic Fury, according to US Central Command.
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Central Command said it would withhold additional information, “including the identities of our fallen warriors,” until 24 hours after their next of kin have been notified. It was not immediately clear where or in what circumstances the troops were killed.
Despite over half (55 percent) of Republicans saying they approved of the airstrikes in Iran, the poll found that 42 percent said they would be less likely to support a military campaign if it led to “U.S. troops in the Middle East being killed or injured.”
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It comes after Iran vowed revenge over the death of its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during the airstrikes, which targeted about 40 top Iranian officials in Tehran, including former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was also reported to be among those killed.
Trump warned the US will hit Iran “with a force that has never been seen before,” if the Middle East nation retaliates.
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The Reuters/ Ipsos poll also found that the president’s approval rating has now dipped slightly lower to 39 percent, one percentage point below a similar poll conducted February 18 to 23.
The strikes on Iran began three days before the first primaries of the midterm elections, which will determine whether Trump’s Republicans maintain their majorities in Congress for the next two years.
Reuters/Ipsos polls have consistently shown that voters’ top concern heading into the elections is the economy, far more than foreign affairs.
