Published: March 26, 2026, 02:53 PM
Four new polls, one consistent finding: Most Americans oppose the United States’ strikes in Iran.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted March 20-23 found 61% of Americans disapproving of U.S. military strikes in Iran, while 35% approved. A week prior, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found 59% disapproving and 37% approving of U.S. strikes in Iran.
Majorities of Democrats (93%) and independents (69%) disapprove of the strikes while most Republicans (75%) approve. But Democrats are more uniform in their disapproval than Republicans are in approval.
A Pew Research Center poll, conducted March 16-22, found 59% of Americans saying the U.S. made the wrong decision in using military force in Iran, while 38% said it was the right decision.
Separately, a Quinnipiac poll conducted March 19-23 found 54% of registered voters opposed to the U.S. military action in Iran while 39% supported it. It found 42% of voters saying the war with Iran will make the world less safe, 35% saying it would make it safer and 20% saying it would make no difference. Quinnipiac did not provide respondents an option to say they were unsure, but 3% volunteered they did not know or had no opinion.
Pew found fewer saying the U.S. military action in Iran would make the world less safe (33%), fewer saying it would make it safer (27%) and about the same saying it would be about as safe as before (19%). A sizable 19% said they were not sure.
Pew also measured opinion on the effects of the war closer to home and by about 2 to 1, found Americans saying the U.S. military action in Iran would make the U.S. less safe (40%) rather than safer (22%). Another 20% said it would not make a difference and 18% were unsure.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll found nearly as large of a divide: 46% of Americans saying U.S. military action in Iran will make America less safe in the long run, while 26% said it would make America safer and 24% said it would not have much impact.
Separately, an AP-NORC poll conducted March 19-23 found 59% of Americans saying U.S. military action in Iran has gone too far, while just 26% say it has been about right and 13% say it has not gone far enough.
Majorities of Democrats (90%) and independents (63%) said U.S. military action has gone too far in Iran, while about half of Republicans said it has been “about right.”
More than 6 in 10 Americans, 63%, disapprove of how President Donald Trump is handling Iran, similar to the 64% who disapprove of how he’s handling foreign policy, according to AP-NORC. Quinnipiac found 59% of registered voters disapproving of how Trump is handling foreign policy. Pew found 61% of Americans disapproving of how Trump is handling the U.S. military action against Iran.
The AP-NORC poll found more than half of Americans trust Trump “only a little” or “not at all” to make the right decisions about the use of nuclear weapons (55%), relationships with U.S. adversaries (55%), the use of military force outside the U.S. (53%) and relationships with U.S. allies (52%).
Pew found 45% of Americans saying that the military action in Iran was not going well, while only 25% said that it was going “extremely” or “very” well. Another 28% said it was going “somewhat” well. A narrow majority (54%) said they expected military action in Iran to continue for at least six or more months (including 29% who said it would last a year or more).
Over 6 in 10 Americans (62%) oppose deploying U.S. troops on the ground in Iran, according to AP-NORC. Nearly half (48%) oppose sending government funds to aid Israel’s army. About 4 in 10 (39% each) oppose conducting airstrikes against military targets inside Iran or to kill Iranian leaders. Significant shares of each (26%-30%) say they neither favor nor oppose each.
The AP-NORC poll found roughly two-thirds of Americans said it is “extremely” or “very” important to prevent U.S. oil and gas prices from rising (67%) and to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon (65%). Fewer said it is extremely or very important to prevent Iran from threatening Israel (39%) or to replace Iran’s government with one that is friendlier to U.S. interests (33%).
Gasoline prices have surged since the U.S. attacked Iran. Nearly half of registered voters in the Quinnipiac poll (46%) said the price of gasoline was at least a somewhat serious problem for them and their family lately.
And concern about gas prices has grown, according to AP-NORC. Nearly half, 45%, said they are “extremely” or “very” concerned about being able to afford gas in the next few months, up from 30% in December. Now, 26% say they are "extremely concerned.” Concern over being able to afford gas was higher than other issues measured in the AP-NORC poll, including electricity and people’s rents or mortgage, but was close to concern over grocery prices at 41%.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll found just 25% of Americans approving of how Trump is handling the cost of living and 66% disapproving.
The same poll found just 29% of Americans approve of how Trump is handling the economy overall, the lowest rating he’s had on the issue over both of his terms as president and also lower than President Joe Biden had over his term (Biden’s lowest point in Reuters/Ipsos polling on handling the economy was 32% approving). Reuters/Ipsos found 62% disapproving of how he was handling the economy, similar to the 61% who disapproved in the AP-NORC poll, but higher than the 58% in the Quinnipiac poll (which was among registered voters instead of Americans overall).
The Reuters/Ipsos poll also found Trump’s overall approval rating to be at the lowest point since he returned to the presidency, with 36% approving, down from 40% the week before.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted March 20-23 among 1,272 U.S. adults and has an overall margin of error of +/- 2.8 percentage points. The poll was conducted using Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel.
The AP-NORC poll was conducted March 19-23 among 1,150 U.S. adults and has an overall margin of error of +/- 4.0 percentage points. The poll was conducted using NORC’s AmeriSpeak Omnibus.
The Quinnipiac poll was conducted March 19-23 among 1,191 registered voters and has an overall margin of error of +/- 3.6 percentage points. The poll was conducted by random digit dialing U.S. cellphones and landlines and used live interviewers.
The Pew Research Center poll was conducted March 16-22 among 3,524 U.S. adults and has an overall margin of error of +/- 1.8 percentage points. The poll was conducted using Pew’s American Trends Panel.
