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Support among American voters for U.S. military action in Iran has slumped to its lowest level since the start of the war, according to one polling outlet in a survey that comes as President Donald Trump announced further strikes on the Islamic Republic.
The survey by Quinnipiac University released on Wednesday found that just over one-third (34 percent) of voters backed military action, while 60 percent opposed it.
This marks the lowest support and highest opposition to the U.S. military action in the conflict since Quinnipiac University first began asking voters about it in early March, soon after Trump announced the launch of Operation Epic Fury on February 28.
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In a statement to Newsweek about the polling, the White House said: "What matters most to the American people is having a Commander in Chief who takes bold action to keep them safe, which is exactly what President Trump is doing."
"The President does not make national security decisions based on fluid opinion polls, but on the best interests of the American people, and he will not stand by as Iran kills our soldiers, fires at our ships in the Strait of Hormuz, and breaks the MOU," the statement said, referring to the memorandum of understanding that paused fighting in June.
However, increasing voter anxiety about the war poses a problem for the Trump administration fewer than 100 days out from the midterm elections, when voters go to the ballot box after weeks of higher gas prices and growing concerns about the United States economy.
“Trump's war of choice, without clear objectives and with no exit strategy, is hurting the administration,” Mark Shanahan, a U.S. politics expert from the University of Surrey in England, told Newsweek. “The longer it goes on, the more its economic impact will be felt by voters.”
The findings come as CENTCOM announced a "heavy wave" of strikes against Iran in retaliation for Tuesday's attempted ballistic missile attacks on American forces in Jordan following joint U.S.-Saudi strikes targeting Iranian proxies in Iraq.
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Voters Fear a Long War
Quinnipiac's polling of 963 registered voters between July 23 and July 27, with a 4.1 percent margin of error, found that a majority of voters (55 percent) think U.S. military action against Iran will last either about a year or longer.
The survey found that one-fifth (20 percent) think it will last about a year and just over a third (35 percent) believe it will last longer.
This is an increase from Quinnipiac’s poll on April 15, in which 32 percent thought the U.S. military action against Iran would last either about a year (13 percent) or longer than that (19 percent).
The figures point to a growing concern about the conflict expanding despite Trump's claims that it would be swift and his earlier railing against "forever wars" waged by his predecessors.
Meanwhile, a majority (54 percent) of voters think the U.S. is not winning the war with Iran, more than the 36 percent who think it is winning.
However, nearly two-thirds of voters (66 percent) say the war with Iran has not been worth fighting, compared with just under a third (31 percent) who say it was worth fighting.
"The pushback is evident," Quinnipiac University polling analyst Tim Malloy said in a statement.
Meanwhile, a separate poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of voters believed the war was not worth fighting, compared with 33 percent who did. Since the war began, 18 U.S. service members have been killed, although the Trump administration has tried to revise those numbers.
The survey of 1,165 U.S. adults conducted between July 23 and July 27 with a 3.7 percent margin of error found that among those who questioned the worth of the war were 87 percent of Democrats, 68 percent of Independents, and 37 percent of Republicans.
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"Trump's core MAGA base will support him to the hilt, but they do not comprise a majority of voters and it's notable that a quarter of GOP-aligned voters now oppose the president," said Shanahan, who is associate professor of political engagement at Surrey University.
"Trump, of course, is not on the ballot in November, but he is so dominant over Republican politics that every action he takes—or doesn't—has a knock-on effect on all the GOP candidates who will be fighting elections at local, District and State level in the Midterms," he added.
Senate Rejects Bipartisan War Powers
The U.S. Senate on Thursday narrowly rejected a bipartisan war powers resolution that sought to require an end to President Donald Trump's military operations against Iran without explicit congressional authorization.
The resolution failed by a 49-50 vote, falling one vote short of passage and allowing the administration's military campaign to continue.
Among the notable votes, Sen. Bill Cassidy voted against the resolution, maintaining his support for the administration's position. Republican Sens. Rand Paul, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski broke with much of their party to vote in favor of the measure, joining Democrats in support.
Ahead of the vote, resolution sponsor Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand delivered a forceful floor speech arguing that the conflict had become an unauthorized and costly war that Congress has a constitutional duty to stop.
"This war will go down in history as one of the greatest strategic failures in modern American history," Gillibrand said, criticizing the administration for launching military action "without a clear plan" and "without a coherent strategy."
Gillibrand argued that the administration had failed to achieve its stated objectives, saying Iran continues to possess nuclear material and may now be even more determined to pursue a nuclear weapon. She also contended that the conflict has strengthened Tehran's leverage over global energy markets through the Strait of Hormuz while increasing costs for American families.
The New York senator said rising fuel prices have placed a significant burden on consumers, citing Joint Economic Committee data that she said showed the average American family has paid an additional $432 for gasoline since the conflict began. She estimated New Yorkers have spent an extra $2 billion at the pump, while Americans nationwide have paid roughly $60 billion more for fuel.
Gillibrand also highlighted the human cost of the conflict, saying 18 U.S. service members have been killed since the war began. She paid tribute to Sgt. Angel Rampersad of Queens, New York, who she said was killed in an Iranian attack in Jordan after serving honorably for more than six years.
"Our service members do not volunteer to be pawns in a chaotic, unauthorized war with no plan and no end in sight," Gillibrand said. "Under the Constitution, we have the power to end this war today. Let's use it."
Supporters of the resolution argued that Congress, not the president, holds the constitutional authority to declare war and should reassert its role in authorizing sustained military action. Opponents countered that the president has the authority to respond to national security threats and warned that limiting executive military authority could undermine U.S. operations during an active conflict.
With the resolution's defeat, President Trump's military campaign against Iran will continue without the additional congressional restrictions proposed in the measure. The close vote nevertheless underscored bipartisan divisions over U.S. involvement in the conflict and Congress's constitutional role in authorizing military action.
CENTCOM Announces Strikes on Iranian Bases
U.S. Central Command announced that it hit "dozens" of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets.
The latest wave of U.S. strikes started at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday and were in response to attempted Iranian attacks on American forces in the Middle East. All of Iran's missiles were intercepted, according to CENTCOM.
Iranian media reported that an IRGC warehouse and hangar on a base on the southern Iranian island of Qeshm were hit. Three people, including a 2-year-old child, were killed according to Iranian outlets. Footage on social media showed plumes of smoke rising and an explosion from the site of the attack.
Strikes and counterstrikes between the U.S. and Iran have been escalating since a ceasefire in April fell apart in June as they grapple over the Strait of Hormuz, which Tehran seeks to control, upending global energy markets that depend on the critical waterway.
Meanwhile, there have been reports that Trump's allies and aides cannot agree on what to do next about Iran, according to an unnamed U.S official who told NBC News, "there is no unity."
“The president is exasperated,” a Trump ally told the outlet. "I don’t think he believed it was going to be this difficult to get the Iranians to agree to a deal."
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Ben Kelly, Cristina Diciu, Sam Wilson.
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