President Donald Trump’s war in Iran is facing overwhelming disapproval that rivals the anti-war sentiment seen during the Vietnam War and the peak of the war in Iraq.
According to the latest Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos poll, 61 percent of Americans believe that the U.S. using military force against Iran was a mistake. Just 36 percent believe it was the right decision.
The numbers from the poll conducted from April 24 through April 28 are similar to the disapproval seen during the Vietnam War in the early 1970s, after deep unrest over the long-running conflict, and by May 1971, some 61 percent of Americans believed sending military forces was a mistake, while 28 percent said it was not.
It took years for the disapproval of Vietnam to reach that level after massive casualties and millions of boots on the ground, which has not happened to date in Iran.
Trump’s war in Iran has the country divided largely along partisan lines. While the majority of Americans disapprove, including 71 percent of Independents, Republicans continue to back Trump’s actions with 79 percent approving of his military action, while 19 percent called it a mistake.
It’s unclear where the war in Iran will go from here. Trump insisted in the Oval Office on Thursday that Tehran wants to make a deal as the blockades in the Strait of Hormuz continue.
Friday marked the 60-day deadline for the administration to end hostilities with Iran or seek congressional approval for the war under the War Powers Act, a Vietnam-era law passed to ensure Congress gets to weigh in.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth claimed on Thursday that the clock paused on the 60-day countdown because the two countries were in a ceasefire. Democratic lawmakers dispute that argument, but it’s unclear how the administration will proceed after Congress headed out again on recess.
While testifying before Congress over two days this week, Hegseth insisted the U.S. was not in a quagmire in Iran. He also insisted Americans backed the war, but multiple polls, including the one released on Friday, dispute that.
The disapproval does not just rival the polling of Americans who were against the Vietnam War in the 1970s. It’s also similar to the disapproval seen at the height of the war in Iraq, when in May 2006, 59 percent of Americans viewed going in as a mistake.
When asked for a comment on the majority of Americans disapproving of the military action, the White House did not address the polling directly but insisted the president was removing a nuclear threat.
“What matters most to the American people is having a Commander-in-Chief who takes decisive action to eliminate threats and keep them safe, which is exactly what President Trump did with the successful Operation Epic Fury,” said spokesperson Davis Ingle. “President Trump campaigned proudly on his promise to deny the Iranian regime the ability to develop a nuclear weapon, and he’s kept his promise.”
Trump campaigned on a promise to stop wars, not start them.
When it comes to Iran, the Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos poll found 61 percent of Americans said they believed Trump’s military action increased the risk of terrorism against Americans.
60 percent said they believed it increased the risk of a U.S. recession as gas prices hit their highest level since the strikes began on February 28.
The national average price for a gallon of gas hit $4.42 on Friday, the highest it’s been since summer 2022, according to GasBuddy.com. The national average for a gallon of diesel hit $5.56, just 25 cents below the all-time high.
40 percent of Americans said they were not as well off financially as they were when Trump became president in January 2025, while 42 percent said it was about the same. Only 17 percent said they were better off.
“The country is doing really well, and that’s despite a military operation,” Trump insisted in the Oval Office on Thursday.
The president and his top officials have repeatedly claimed that the price of gas will come down once the war concludes, but peace talks have been stalled. However, Iran delivered its latest proposal for peace talks to mediators in Pakistan on Friday, Reuters reported.
