Most Americans don’t want the U.S. going to war with Iran, new polls find

New polls show broad opposition

Most Americans don’t want the U.S. fighting in Iran.

A Quinnipiac University poll released March 9 found 53% of registered voters oppose military action, while 40% support it. An NBC News poll landed in a similar spot, with 52% against.

A PBS News/NPR/Marist poll put opposition even higher at 56%. Fox News found voters split right down the middle at 50-50.

The surveys paint a clear picture: support for the strikes falls short of a majority in nearly every poll.

Ground troops cross a line for voters

Whatever Americans think about airstrikes, they draw a hard line at boots on the ground. About 74% of voters oppose sending ground troops to Iran, with just 20% in favor, according to Quinnipiac.

That opposition cuts across party lines: 95% of Democrats, 75% of independents, and 52% of Republicans say no to ground troops. Even among Republicans, only 37% support sending soldiers.

President Trump told the New York Post on March 10 that he is “nowhere near” sending troops. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, though, refused to rule it out.

Republicans back airstrikes but resist ground war

Republican voters strongly support the air campaign, with about 85% backing the strikes in the Quinnipiac poll. But that number drops fast when the question shifts to ground troops.

A 52%-37% majority of Republicans oppose sending soldiers to Iran.

The Angus Reid Institute found non-MAGA Republicans nearly split on troop deployment, with about 40% in favor and 38% against, though the small sample size makes that more of a rough guide than a firm number.

The gap shows Republicans support force from the air but resist the kind of ground commitment the country saw in Iraq and Afghanistan.

MAGA and non-MAGA Republicans disagree

Not all Republicans see the conflict the same way.

An NBC News poll found 90% of self-described MAGA Republicans back the strikes, compared to just 54% of non-MAGA Republicans. Among that non-MAGA group, 36% said they flat-out oppose the strikes.

The split runs even deeper among ground troops. The Angus Reid Institute found MAGA Republicans favor troop deployment at about 66%, while non-MAGA Republicans remain divided.

That gap matters because it shows the party’s unity on Iran only goes so far.

Trump promised to stop wars, not start them

During his 2016 and 2024 campaigns, Trump repeatedly promised to keep the country out of “endless wars” and focus on problems at home. On election night 2024, he said he would stop wars, not start them.

JD Vance endorsed Trump in 2023 partly because Trump started no wars during his first term.

Since returning to the office, Trump has ordered military action in several countries, including Venezuela, Syria, and now Iran.

Some prominent supporters, including former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and commentator Tucker Carlson, have publicly criticized the Iran operation.

Most voters question the reason for strikes

More than half of voters aren’t buying the case for war.

About 55% said they don’t believe Iran posed an immediate military threat before the strikes, according to Quinnipiac. And 62% said the Trump administration hasn’t given a clear explanation for the action.

Still, about six in 10 voters in the Fox News poll said Iran poses a real national security threat.

An AP-NORC poll conducted before the strikes found that about half of U.S. adults were highly worried about Iran’s nuclear program. The administration has said Iran posed grave threats, but experts say Iran is likely years away from missiles that could reach the U.S.

Voters split on killing Iranian leaders

The killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and more than 40 other Iranian leaders divided voters almost evenly. About 48% said the killings were justified, while 43% said they were not.

The partisan gap is huge: 88% of Republicans supported the killings, but only 18% of Democrats agreed. Independents leaned against, with 50% saying the killings were not justified and 41% saying they were.

A few issues in the polls showed a wider party-line split.

Rising gas prices worry voters across parties

About 74% of voters said they worry the conflict will push oil and gas prices higher, according to the Quinnipiac poll. Nearly half said they are very concerned, and another 25% said somewhat concerned.

Even about half of Republicans expressed at least some worry about rising prices at the pump.

Trump said on March 10 that the U.S. would take further action against Iran if it tried to disrupt the global oil supply. Energy costs rank among the top concerns for voters across party lines.

Most Americans fear a terror attack

The strikes have Americans worried about retaliation at home.

About 77% of voters said they believe a terrorist attack on U.S. soil is likely in response to the military action. A third said an attack is very likely, and 44% said somewhat likely.

Only 19% said an attack was unlikely.

That fear crosses party lines and adds another layer of unease to a public already split on whether the strikes were the right call.

Few voters expect a quick end

Trump has said the war could last four to five weeks but added the U.S. can keep going “far longer.” Voters aren’t as optimistic.

Only 3% in the Quinnipiac poll think the conflict will wrap up in days, and 18% said weeks. About 32% expect months, 13% expect roughly a year, and 26% think it will last longer than a year.

Most voters believe the war will outlast the timeline Trump has laid out.

Support falls below past U.S. wars

Current support for the Iran action, around 40% to 44% across most polls, falls well short of how Americans felt at the start of past conflicts.

When the Iraq War began in March 2003, about 70% of Americans backed it, according to Gallup. After Pearl Harbor in 1941, 97% supported declaring war on Japan.

When President Truman sent troops to Korea in 1950, about 78% approved.

Younger voters are more opposed than older ones: about two-thirds of those under 35 oppose the strikes, per NBC News, while voters 50 and older are more evenly split.

Midterm elections loom over the debate

Republican pollster Bill McInturff said current support sits at “a lower level of support than in most of the major military action that we’ve seen.”

He added that public attitudes could shift based on how things go.

Sen. Rand Paul warned that if the conflict drags on and gas prices stay high, Republicans could face a tough 2026 midterm.

Trump’s overall approval sits at about 37% to 39% across recent polls, with 57% to 58% disapproval. How long the fighting lasts and what it does to gas prices may decide whether voters dig in or soften.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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