New poll shows growing number of Americans disapprove of Trump's handling of Iran war

Amna Nawaz:

Now for a closer look at how Americans are seeing the war in Iran and rising gas prices, Lisa Desjardins is at the Super Screen with insights from our latest PBS News/NPR/Marist poll.

So, Lisa, the U.S. and Israel launched this war in Iran at the end of February. President Trump promised a quick conflict. More than two months on, how are Americans seeing the war?

Lisa Desjardins:

The war is unpopular and it's becoming more so.

When we asked, American adults told us only 33 percent of them approve of this war in Iran and president's handling right now. That leaves 60 percent who disapprove of this war.

Now, we wanted to have some historical context. This is significant historically. We looked back at 2007, another unpopular war, the war in Iraq. What were the ratings then for President George W. Bush at the time? Sixty-four percent of Americans disapproved, registered voters at that point.

Now, you can see these numbers are not that far apart, even given the fact that this had been war for a couple of years with American lives lost in the field. You can see Americans do not have an appetite for war and are unhappy with the president about it in particular.

There is, however, partisan divide. Republicans stand out, because, overwhelmingly, they approve of what President Trump is doing in Iran right now. However, this isn't all good news for him when it comes to Republicans. That number is down seven points from March. That's statistically significant, especially given this was just two months ago.

Amna Nawaz:

Lisa, what about the economic impact we know the war is having, especially when it comes to gas prices? How are Americans looking at that?

Lisa Desjardins:

This is not just a question of opinion, but a question of impact. We asked Americans what the impact had been for them, and you can see a huge group, 81 percent of Americans -- with 33 of them saying a major strain, 81 percent say they are feeling the strain of increased gas prices on their family.

What that leaves is just a small group, 19 percent, who are not feeling the pinch of these increased gas prices. I want to remind viewers that there are some five million electric vehicles on the roads in America. That's an example of who might be involved in this small 19 percent.

But there's a political question here. Do they blame President Trump for this? We asked, and the answer is very clear. They do; 63 percent of Americans we asked said they do blame President Trump for the gas price increase.

Now, the other point about this, though, is the president has been strong on the economy in the past. How is he doing? Is this impacting him overall on the economy? Right now, 61 percent of Americans disapprove of how the president is handling the American economy. This used to be a strong suit for him.

Again, we looked back at history. In 2020, as the president was leaving office in December, these numbers were reversed. More Americans approved of how he was handling the economy, even though he had lost the election. This is not just a problem for President Trump, but potentially for the Republican Party as well.

Amna Nawaz:

Lisa, pick up on that point then, because we know all of this is happening just a few months before the midterm elections. How could it impact Republicans' races?

Lisa Desjardins:

It certainly could.

Let's look at the generic ballot, as we call it. When you ask who you prefer, Democrats or Republicans in general, there's a 10-point gap preferring Democrats. And when you ask this question to independents, look at this. That gap is even larger, now a 12-point preference by independents for Democrats.

Now, this is something that Democrats like, but they also like an enthusiasm gap that we found in our poll. Look at this. Who's very enthusiastic about voting in November? Democrats are more so than Republicans. Independents, in this partisan time, not as enthusiastic.

But this enthusiasm is something Democrats are counting on to overcome redistricting by Republicans in some red states. And they say they saw that enthusiasm yesterday in Michigan. Look at this, pivotal state Senate race in Michigan. The Democrat won by 20 points. This is a district where Democrats carried by just seven points four years ago.

That enthusiasm, they say, could matter in remapped districts like this one in Ohio. This race is now set after primaries. This is a rematch for Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur. She hopes to keep her seat in a district that has been remapped to benefit Republicans. She will need enthusiasm, like we see in this poll, to do it.

Amna Nawaz:

Lisa, also yesterday, there were some closely watched primary results in Indiana. President Trump was trying to oust members of his own party who refused to redistrict. What happened?

Lisa Desjardins:

Here's a visual way to think of it. These are the seven state senators who voted against redistricting against Trump. He challenged all of them in the primary. How many kept their jobs? Let's look at who did not.

These five state senators are out of their jobs because of primary challenges by President Trump, who one outright state senator will keep his job, and then a seventh is in a race too close to call. Right now, Amna, this race is down to three votes. Republicans no doubt are taking this as a message about loyalty across the country.

Amna Nawaz:

All right, Lisa Desjardins, thank you very much.

Lisa Desjardins:

You're welcome.