About 70% of US adults believe the war the United States and Israel are waging against Iran "wasn't worth it," according to a new national poll. The AP-NORC survey released Thursday, which Ettelaat cited via Al Jazeera, shows the share has risen 5 points since July.
According to the poll, 71% of adults disapprove of Trump's handling of Iran, and 69% say the war "wasn't worth it." In the survey of more than 2,000 US adults, only 17% approved of his handling of the cost of living, while approval of Trump's overall handling of the economy hit a new low of 26%. Public concern over fuel prices also rose: the share of people seriously worried about filling their tanks climbed from 39% in July to about half, and roughly half of respondents said they had similar worries about buying groceries.
Two-thirds of Republicans believe high prices stem from factors beyond Trump's control, while one-third tie them directly to his policies, the poll found. Only about one in five adults want the military campaign to continue, while roughly a third said the United States should pause military operations and seek a new ceasefire through negotiations. Approval of Trump's stance on Iran fell to 28% from 34% the previous month.
Asked by Time magazine whether the unpopular war could hurt his party in the November midterm elections, Trump first said "it could," then added, "it should help, because Iran will not have a nuclear weapon." Responding to the slide in the polls, Trump called pollsters "corrupt" and the bad results "fake," saying he would win "by 20 points" no matter who ran. The poll coincided with Trump's push to energize the Republican base as he began campaigning in Texas and Oklahoma.
How the Persian press covered it
The established daily Ettelaat ran the story with the poll figures under a "new blow to Trump's credibility" framing. The semi-official ISNA, on the same day, highlighted Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen's call that "Congress should cut Trump's war budget." The economic daily Donya-e-Eqtesad compiled social media posts by Democratic senators and representatives (Chris Murphy, Van Hollen, Elizabeth Warren, Hakeem Jeffries, James Walkinshaw, Jim McGovern) under the headline "Democrats' critique: The president is hiding troop casualties," focusing on the economic cost of the war.
Context
The Israel-Iran war, which began in February 2026 and is still ongoing, is being debated in the US Congress as both an economic and a political burden as the November midterm elections approach. The poll shows that public concern about the cost of the war has grown over time and turned into bipartisan discontent; approval ratings are falling among Republican voters as well. This picture of public opinion emerged as the United States continues to send troops and naval forces to the region and signs mount that the war will not end soon (see US troop deployment to the Middle East). The polls suggest the Trump administration is pursuing its decision to continue the war with increasingly fragile public support at home.
