NEW CNN POLL: Most Americans Oppose Trump Airstrikes — Including 60% Of Independents
President Donald Trump’s decision to strike Iran is very unpopular outside of his base, according to a new CNN poll that found a whopping 60 percent of independents opposed the move.
The world was stunned Saturday night when President Donald Trump announced a series of U.S. airstrikes on nuclear sites in Iran. The strikes touched off waves of criticism and approval, as well as objections from both sides of the aisle in Congress.
Trump also raised eyebrows with a Truth Social post referencing “regime change” even as his officials tried to assure the public that overthrow is not the goal of this mission.
As of Tuesday morning, the cement was still drying on a tenuous ceasefire that Trump announced Monday night.
According to a CNN/SSRS poll, Trump ran afoul of public opinion and made them feel less safe in the bargain. The poll found overall that 56% of Americans disapproved of the strikes, while 44% approved.
CNN’s polling team writes:
Majorities of independents (60%) and Democrats (88%) disapprove of the decision to take military action in Iran. Republicans largely approve (82%). But just 44% of Republicans strongly approve of the airstrikes, far smaller than the group of Democrats who strongly disapprove (60%), perhaps reflecting that some in Trump’s coalition are broadly distrustful of military action abroad.
A 58% majority overall say the strikes will make Iran more of a threat to the US, with just 27% believing it will lessen the threat and the rest expecting it to do neither. Even among those who support the strikes, just 55% expect them to lessen the threat level.
Even among Republican leaners, almost a third (31%) said Trump’s strikes made Iran “More of a threat to the US.”
The poll also found that Trump could face even stronger blowback if he ends up taking further action without consulting Congress. A full 65 percent said Trump should “be required to get congressional approval for any further military action in Iran,” including 67 percent of Independents and even forty percent of Republican leaners.
Read the full poll results here.
