President Trump in the Rose Garden on September 2.
Photo: Samuel Corum/Bloomberg/Getty Images
President Donald Trump keeps projecting confidence about his ongoing war in Iran despite there being no end in sight as sporadic attacks have hindered one of the world’s most crucial shipping routes in the region. But there’s now more evidence that Americans, including Republicans, are increasingly opposed to the war.
A recently conducted CNN-SRSS poll found that 73 percent of American adults disapprove of Trump’s handling of the situation in Iran, while only 26 percent said they approved. When broken down by party, the results were even more ominous. Only 60 percent of Republicans now approve of his handling of the war, down from 73 percent in March. Unsurprisingly, nearly all Democrats — 95 percent — also disapprove.
When asked about the impact of Trump’s military actions in Iran, 70 percent said the conflict hurt the U.S. Even more, 75 percent, said he doesn’t have a clear plan for handling the situation, a sharp increase from 60 percent back when CNN polled the same question right after the war started. On his overall handling of foreign affairs, only 29 percent of respondents said they approved of what the president was doing, compared to 71 percent who disapproved.
The new findings come as the war is set to extend into its seventh month. It has already cost almost $44 billion, according to the Pentagon, but the total cost is likely significantly higher. At least 19 U.S. servicemembers have been killed, and the regional conflict has triggered soaring gas prices and an ever-growing energy crisis ahead of this fall’s crucial midterm elections.
During his address to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, Trump once again emphasized he was justified in attacking Iran, and he insisted the looming midterms were not a factor in his decision-making.
“The Republican Party is running, and I’ll be helping them. But I am not running. I gave absolutely no credence and will not give credence to the election when it comes to Iran. It doesn’t even enter my mind. The only thing that does is that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon,” he said.
While Trump floated the possibility of a peace deal following the November elections, he used his platform to levy a chilling threat, telling the assembled leaders he could destroy Iran if it didn’t capitulate to his demands.
“Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before — maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East or even the world — or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again?” Trump said.
He continued, “Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations? But I believe we’ll make a deal right after the election because it doesn’t make sense for them not to.”
Trump later told reporters that U.S. and Iranian officials had a productive meeting in New York City, but there’s as of yet no indication that will amount to any kind of substantive deal. In the meantime, it seems clear that fewer and fewer Americans are withholding their own judgment about what a mess this has become.
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