Donald Trump’s war in Iran is historically unpopular, according to a new poll that CNN’s chief data analyst calls “devastating.”
The president’s net approval rating on the conflict has plunged from -13 in early March to -40, according to the Washington Post poll.
“I believe this minus 40 points represents the least popular poll in terms of Trump’s net approval rating on the Iran war, the entire war so far,” CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten said.
He added that the polling is a sign that Trump’s war in Iran, which he began without congressional authorization and has cost U.S. households $100 billion overall so far, is “historically unpopular.”
“That’s the phrase that I would use. The war was unpopular to start off with and it’s become even less popular.”
Enten’s remarks come after four U.S. service members were killed over the weekend in Jordan and Iraq after Iran launched retaliatory attacks on U.S. military bases in both countries following the collapse of the temporary ceasefire.
Two of those killed in Jordan were Pvt. Isabella Gonzales of Carrollton, Texas, who was just 19 years old, and First Lt. Tyler James Feehan of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, who was 25. A third service member who died has not yet been identified.
Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30, of Fayetteville, North Carolina, died at Erbil Air Base in Iraq “during a controlled detonation” of a downed drone, the Pentagon said.
The latest deaths bring the confirmed U.S. military toll to 17 since American and Israeli forces launched their campaign against Iran on Feb. 28.
Trump reacted to the deaths on Saturday during an interview with NewsNation.
“It’s a very sad thing. We hate to see it happen,” the president said, before quickly pivoting to his favorite Iran talking point. “It’s in service to our country… we’re never, they’re never going to allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”
Meanwhile, in a Truth Social post on Monday, he vowed that Iran would pay “many times over” for each service member’s death.
But if fighting continues, there could be more misery ahead for Americans in a war that has already led to a spike in energy prices after the Strait of Hormuz was blockaded.
Prices climbed again last week after U.S. Central Command reinstated a naval blockade of Iranian ports following the collapse of the ceasefire.
AAA data shows gasoline prices are once again creeping toward $5 a gallon, raising fears that prolonged instability could drive costs even higher.
The White House has insisted that the price rises are temporary, but polling suggests that the majority of Americans do not think the Iran war has been worth the cost.
The Washington Post poll showed that 68 percent of Americans say the conflict is not worth fighting—a level of public dissatisfaction that surpasses the backlash over the Iraq War, when 58 percent said the war was not worth it in 2006.
According to Enten, those numbers are “devastating” for the Republican Party ahead of the midterm elections in November, where the party is trying to defend its slim majorities in the House and Senate.
And Americans could see history repeat itself in November. “We remember what happened in 2006. Republicans lost both the House and the Senate,” Enten said.
“This is a very, very bad number for the president. I think a lot of Republicans in Congress don’t like this number, one iota. Just a devastating number for Republicans.”
In more bad news for Trump’s party, the war is also losing support among some of the key voters Republicans will be relying on in November.
Among independents, 77 percent say the Iran conflict has not been worth it, including 63 percent of GOP-leaning independents who share that view.
“This is a historically unpopular war. It’s a war that is becoming only more unpopular. And while President Trump won’t be on the ballot come November, a lot of Republicans in Congress will be and they cannot like the look of these numbers, especially with a group of GOP leading independents who historically vote Republican,” Enten said.
“They need these voters. They need these voters. They need these voters. And right now in the Iran war, they most certainly don’t have these voters.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
