Americans’ opposition to the war in Iran has hardened, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS, with almost two-thirds saying the US is not winning the conflict and more saying President Donald Trump isn’t doing enough to end it.
Americans have never held positive views about the war, and nearly seven months after it began, broad majorities say the conflict has hurt US interests, has not been worth the costs and that the president lacks a clear plan to handle it.
The findings come as Trump prepares to address the United Nations and meet with Gulf leaders about the future of the Iran war. They also come as he is confronting a metastasizing crisis with the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen.
Overall, 29 percent of US adults approve of Trump’s handling of foreign affairs, a new low in CNN polling across both of his terms as president, while 71 percent say they disapprove. More see his foreign policy decisions this term as harming America’s standing in the world rather than helping it. Only 26 percent say they approve of the president’s handling of the situation in Iran, down from 33 percent a month after the war began.
Much of the decline in approval of his handling of Iran comes among Republicans. Views among Democrats and independents have been steadily negative throughout the conflict. In March, though, 73 percent of Republicans approved of the way Trump was handling it. Now, that figure stands at 60 percent. Among Republican and Republican-leaning adults, approval of Trump’s handling of Iran dips into negative territory among those younger than 45 (53 percent disapprove) and those who say they are not members of the Make America Great Again movement (54 percent disapprove).
Republicans are also less positive now than they were earlier this year about the impact of Trump’s foreign policies more broadly: About half of Republicans now say that his decisions have helped the US’ standing in the world, down 13 points since March.
Three-quarters of all adults now say Trump does not have a clear plan for handling the situation in Iran, and 78 percent say that he is not doing enough to end the war. About 7 in 10 say it’s at least somewhat likely that the conflict will be a long-term one, including majorities across party lines. About a third, 32 percent, now see a long-term conflict as very likely, the largest share to say so since the war began.
More say the war has hurt American interests than helped them (70 percent to 18 percent), and 76 percent say the war has not been worth either the toll it has taken in American lives or the financial burden it places on the US government.
Democrats and independents are near universal in their negative views of the war, with 97 percent of Democrats and 82 percent of independents saying it hasn’t been worth it. And few in either group see Trump as doing enough to bring the fighting to an end. Republicans are more divided on both questions: 55 percent say the war has been worth its costs, and 53 percent that Trump is doing enough to end it. But the president’s partisans are far more likely than others to see the US as winning the war: 70 percent say so, compared with 31 percent of independents and 13 percent of Democrats.
The president’s war Cabinet earns negative approval ratings, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio at 40 percent approval, Vice President JD Vance at 36 percent and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth at 34 percent.
US President Donald Trump answers questions alongside US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine during a news conference in the White House on April 6.Alex Wong/Getty Images
Among Republicans, about 8 in 10 approve of Rubio (81 percent) and Vance (79 percent), while Hegseth stands at 72 percent approval. That edge reflects some dissatisfaction with Hegseth among non-MAGA members of the GOP coalition. Among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who do not support MAGA, 70 percent approve of Rubio and 68 percent of Vance, while just 58 percent approve of Hegseth.
Steady views toward Russia, China, but shifts on Canada, Israel
Americans’ views on Russia and China remain largely the same as they were earlier this year: Broad majorities see each as unfriendly or an enemy, but the poll finds shifting views on several countries that have been a focus of Trump’s foreign policies.
The share who view Ukraine as an ally or friendly has dipped from 76 percent in January to 70 percent now. On the flip side, more now see Cuba as friendly than did so in January (26 percent, up from 21 percent).
On Canada, most continue to see the country as an ally or friendly, but the share who consider it an ally has dropped from 51 percent in March 2025 to 38 percent now, in the wake of Trump’s tariff war with our northern neighbor. That drop comes across party lines, but is sharpest among Republicans (down 9 points among Democrats, 10 among independents and 23 among Republicans).
And the share calling Israel an ally or friendly has dropped to 61 percent, while 15 percent call it an enemy, the highest share to say so in CNN polling dating to 2000 and roughly double the share who felt that way in March 2025. This shift comes largely among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents — 17 percent in that group describe Israel as an enemy, up from 8 percent in March 2025. This view is also concentrated among younger Americans: 23 percent of those younger than 45 see Israel as an enemy, up from 9 percent a year and a half ago.
CNN’s Ariel Edwards-Levy and Edward Wu contributed to this report.
The CNN poll was conducted by SSRS online and by telephone September 16-17 among a random national sample of 1,206 adults. Results for the full sample have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
Republican support for Trump’s handling of war in Iran shows cracks in new CNN poll Egypt Independent.
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