President Donald Trump has not done a good job of explaining his hugely unpopular war in Iran, a new poll has revealed.
Sixty-six percent of Americans said they did not feel that Trump, 79, has done an adequate job explaining his goals in Iran, including one in three Republicans.
As well as 30 percent of Republicans, 73 percent of independents, and almost all Democrats surveyed replied no to the question “has Trump clearly explained his goals in Iran?”
The Reuters/Ipsos poll, surveying 1,254 adults nationwide on May 8 to 11, also found that Americans are increasingly worried about their finances amidst rising gas prices that they see as a result of the war.
Three-quarters of Americans, including half of Republicans, think the Trump administration bears at least “a fair amount” of responsibility for surging gas prices.
Sixty-five percent of poll respondents said Republicans were to blame, with just 27 percent pointing the finger at Democrats.
However, Trump’s personal approval rating, which hit an all-time low in April, has risen from 34 percent to 36 percent in this poll. But that’s still four points lower than his rating among voters before the Iran war began in February.
The Iran war is causing many Americans to worry about their personal finances, and some are planning to put off or cancel summer travel, the poll found.
That’s bleeding into doubts about who is winning the war, with only one in three Americans saying it’s the United States. The other seven in 10 say it’s Iran that has the advantage.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The poll comes as the president spent the weekend posturing about the war on social media, before rejecting another Iranian offer.
Iran sent the proposal, which reportedly demanded compensation for the war and the lifting of sanctions on the country, on Sunday, but was quickly rebuffed.
“I have just read the response from Iran’s so-called ‘Representatives.’ I don’t like it — TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE! Thank you for your attention to this matter,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
Both Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have repeatedly claimed victories over Iran in the conflict, which has now entered its third month.
