A poll of voters shows that US President Donald Trump’s approval rating has fallen to its lowest point in his presidency, with most Americans worried about the protracted war with Iran, Reuters reports.
In a four-day Reuters/Ipsos poll, only 33% of respondents rated Trump’s performance in the White House positively, while 64% rated it poorly. In early August, 35% of those surveyed described the president’s work as successful. Now, support has reached the level it was at the lowest point during Trump’s previous term.
After returning to the White House in 2025, when slightly less than half of the country’s voters supported Trump’s election, his popularity has fallen significantly after the United States, together with its ally Israel, launched strikes on Iran. The conflict has halted shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil and gas export route from the Persian Gulf, and has sent fuel prices soaring, which is now being felt by American households. It is also affecting Republicans’ prospects in the midterm elections due in November.
Trump’s campaign was based on promises to control inflation and avoid engaging in a protracted war, and he initially promised that the war in Iran would last only a few weeks. However, Iran has proven to be more powerful than Trump thought, and traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has not yet returned to normal. About 80% of Americans (87% of Democrats and 71% of Republicans) believe that the US involvement in the war in Iran will continue for a long time.
Only 16% of those surveyed believe that the conflict could be ended in the coming weeks.
Trump said at a political event on the 14th of August that a small increase in gas prices is a small price to pay for not having a “very evil country” with nuclear weapons. That is also the president’s main argument for war with Iran. Since the start of hostilities, Trump has vacillated between threats of escalation and assumptions that a peace deal is inevitable and close. Only one in five Americans believe the war has been worth it.
Concerns about war and gas prices have Republicans worried about their chances of defending their slim majority in the House of Representatives; the reins of power in the Senate could also go to the Democrats.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll showed that for the first time in a decade, voters believe that Democrats are better at managing the economy. 38% of voters believe that Democrats are better at handling the economy, while 35% of voters think that Republicans are better at handling economic issues.
Meanwhile, the Republican approach to immigration remains more popular than the policies implemented by the Democrats, but Republicans are losing ground in this area as well, as the number of deadly clashes has increased, mass arrests are increasingly causing widespread resonance, and the situation in migrant detention centers is causing concern.
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