MILWAUKEE — A high majority of American voters say they support a ceasefire in Iran, a new Marquette Law School national survey finds.

Seventy-five percent approve of a ceasefire in the war, while 24% disapprove.

What You Need To Know

Voters say they approve of a ceasefire in the Iran war

78% said U.S. goals in the war have not been achieved

Overall, only 32% approve of the way the president has been carrying out the war

Marquette University Law School Poll Director Franklin said these sentiments may have implications for the fall elections

It comes after President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the U.S. would extend its ceasefire with Iran, which was set to end Wednesday, at the request of Pakistan.

The survey found bipartisan support for the ceasefire that went into effect on April 7, with 82% of Republicans and 71% of Democrats approving.

Before announcing the ceasefire extension, Trump had warned that “lots of bombs” will “start going off” if there’s no agreement before the Wednesday deadline.

Political leaders have yet to come up with a unified proposal for ending the war.

Many of those surveyed — 78% — said U.S. goals in the war have not been achieved. This thinking varied by party. A larger number of Democrats (94%) said the U.S. has failed to achieve its goals, while only 64% of Republicans said that.

The way President Trump is handling the war is also up for debate, the results showed.

Overall, only 32% approve of the way the president has been carrying it out. When broken down by party, 65% of Republicans approve of his work in the war; 96% of Democrats do not approve of how he’s handling things.

According to the poll, voter sentiment is that there weren’t sufficient reasons for the war. The latest survey shows 63% said there were not sufficient reasons to get involved. Meanwhile, 71% of Republicans say there was. A majority of Democrats, a total of 94%, think otherwise, saying there was not a good reason.

Gas prices, which have gone up significantly since the war began, are a hot topic.

Compared to January, when 50% said gas prices had gone down over the previous six months, April’s survey shows that view has “drastically changed.” Ninty-three percent said gas prices have increased.

Marquette University Law School Poll Director Franklin said all of this, including the sentiment on whether Trump’s doing a good job with the war, may play a role in the fall elections.

“I think the question will be, where are we with the war by the fall? If we get a permanent ceasefire or some kind of peace agreement with the Iranians, the war could be four or five months in the rearview mirror by the time we get to the fall, and memories are short, and maybe we’d forget that,” he said.

“But I think that the damage the war has done to Trump’s standing on inflation and the cost of living and certainly the cost of gasoline. Those are things that are likely to persist into the fall, even if we get an agreement with Iran to cease the war soon.”

Aside from the Iran war, support overall for the U.S. to be involved in world affairs wavered among those surveyed.

Over half, 57%, said it was better for the future of the country to be active in these conflicts. But 43% said it was better to stay out of that business.

Notably, independents were the most reluctant to have the U.S. take on an international role. Their support declined from 54% in early 2025 to 32% in the April survey.

“In general, the U.S. role in the world, they see as not a good thing, and that’s gone down a lot over the last year or so. They also are very skeptical of the Iran war, more so than either of the political parties,” Franklin said.

Franklin said, with independents being the “swing group,” this is something to pay attention to, as it could sway elections.

“I think these independents really are a wild card in the fall elections,” he said. “They don’t like Democrats and they don’t like Republicans, but they really don’t like how the economy is going, how inflation is going, how the war is going. So where does that put them in the fall? Do they come out and vote for Democrats even if they don’t like the Democrats that much? Or do they stay home?”

The Marquette survey interviewed 982 adults across the country from April 8-16. It had a margin of error of +/- 3.4 percentage points.