New polls continue to show President Donald Trump, just seven months into his war with Iran, deeply unpopular among Americans. A survey released Thursday by The Associated Press/NORC Research Center found that 71% of adults disapprove of the way Trump handled the war with Iran he launched with Israel in late February, while 69% said the war was not worth fighting.
“More than half of adults say the country as a whole, the national economy and local economies have gotten worse since Trump was re-elected in 2025,” the survey reported. “A majority of Americans (73%) say the country is heading in the wrong direction, including 92% of Democrats and 47% of Republicans.”
The president appears to be aware that this growing frustration could prove costly for Republicans in next month’s midterm elections, potentially losing Republican control of the House, Senate or both. “It’s possible,” Trump mused to reporters outside the White House on Thursday. But he remains adamant that a war with Iran is worthwhile — ostensibly to prevent the country from acquiring nuclear weapons, even though both the United States and Israel possess them — while ramping up threats and deploying more troops to the region.
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The Pentagon is sending a third aircraft carrier battle group and more Marine Corps ships to the Middle East, expected to arrive by the end of November, officials told The Wall Street Journal on Thursday. It will add about 10,000 troops to the region, putting further pressure on the Navy, which has been facing near-record deployments and supply shortages.
But as the Wall Street Journal reported in late September, Trump does appear to be waiting until after the vote to resume bombing Iran. In an interview with Time published Thursday, the president said the same thing. “Because by eliminating Iran, we create world peace,” he said. “With Iran, I don’t think there will ever be peace.”
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