Poll: A majority of Americans opposes U.S. military action in Iran

As war with Iran heads toward a second week, most Americans say that they are against the military action and disapprove of how President Trump is handling it, according to the latest NPR/PBS News/Marist poll.

By a 56%-44% margin, respondents said they oppose the military action.

Just 36% approve of how Trump is handling Iran, and a majority (55%) thinks Iran either represents a minor threat or no threat at all to the United States.

However, 44% do see Iran as a major threat, and Republicans continue to heavily support the actions and this president.

The Trump administration has given varied justifications for why it attacked Iran alongside Israel on Feb. 28, including arguing that Iran posed an imminent threat.

The survey of 1,591 national respondents took place Monday through Wednesday this week in the days after the United States and Israel began bombing Iran. The survey has a margin or error of 2.8 percentage points, and was conducted in multiple ways — via phone, text and online and in English and Spanish.

Most oppose military action in Iran 

Democrats (86%) and independents (61%) are largely aligned with each other in opposition to the military action.

But 84% of Republicans support it.

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There were significant splits by age, race and education in addition to political party.

Younger people (18-29) were the most likely of any age group to be against the action (64%).

White people without college degrees were slightly more in favor of the action, by a 53%-46% margin, while those with degrees were far more likely to be against — 61% opposed, while only 38% were in supported.

Men were also more likely than women to support it. Men were nearly split (48% in favor, 52% opposed), while women were more heavily against (41% in support, 59% against).

Those who are Black (68%) and Latino (60%) were more likely than whites (52%) to oppose.

Support for Trump’s handling of Iran is low

A majority (54%) disapprove of how Trump is handling Iran.

That’s worse than in the January 2020 Marist poll after Iranian Quds Force leader Qassem Soleimani was killed in a drone strike by the Trump administration.

Back then, 42% approved of the job Trump was doing with relation to Iran, while 49% disapproved.

Here again, Democrats (86%) and independents (59%) disapprove, while nearly 8-in-10 Republicans (79%) approve, though that is slightly lower than the percentage of Republicans who approve of military action specifically.

The youngest voters again have the lowest approval when it comes to Trump’s handling of Iran: 25% among those 18-29, 35% among those 30-44, and 41% with those 45 and older.

Gen Z is the least likely generation to approve (24%). Millennials were 36%, Gen X 40% and Baby Boomers 39%.

Notably here, white evangelicals Christians’ approval is just 68%. On most topics, that group’s support for Trump is usually higher.

There are other splits by gender, race and education that stood out.

• Men in small cities/suburbs (42%) are 15 points more likely to approve than women who live in those areas (27%); 
• Men overall are 13 points more likely to approve than women (43% vs. 30%); 
• By race, Black voters are the least likely to approve (17%), but Latinos’ approval is low, too (32%);
• Whites without degrees are evenly divided, while Trump is 21 points under water with white degree holders — 37% approve and 58% disapprove.

A majority sees Iran as either only a minor threat or no threat at all

There were similar divides on the Iranian threat as there were on the other survey questions — 55% see the country as either a minor threat (40%) or no threat at all (15%), while 44% see it as a major one.

By party, 70% of Republicans say it’s a major threat, while three-quarters of Democrats and 6-in-10 independents see it as only a minor one or not one at all.

Among those most likely to see Iran as a major threat: white evangelical Christians (63%), white women without degrees (52%), those who live in rural areas (51%) and those 45-59 (50%).

Among the least likely: white women with college degrees (34%), those who live in the Northeast (39%), white college grads (39%), Millennials (38%).