Published : 18 Aug 2026, 03:21 PM
Updated : 08 Sep 2026, 09:33 AM
President Donald Trump's approval rating fell to the lowest level of his presidency, with an overwhelming majority of Americans concerned the US war with Iran will last a long time, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that concluded on Monday.
Just 33 percent of respondents in the four-day survey said they approved of Trump's performance in the White House, while 64percent disapproved. Trump's approval rating, down from 35percent in a poll that closed earlier this month and lower than at any point in his current term, has now tied the lowest level of his prior term reached in December 2017.
After returning to the White House in 2025 with just under half the country approving of his presidency, Trump's popularity this year took a hit after he ordered strikes on Iran alongside US ally Israel. The ensuing conflict paralysed a fifth of the global oil trade, triggering a surge in the price of gasoline that is weighing on US households - and on Trump's Republican allies defending congressional majorities in November midterm elections.
Trump, who campaigned on promises to keep inflation in check and avoid long-lasting wars, initially pledged the conflict with Iran would take a few weeks. But Iran has proved resilient and has kept the oil trade through the Strait of Hormuz largely bottled up even as the conflict has cooled.
Some 80percent of Americans - including 87percent of Democrats and 71percent of Republicans - think US involvement in Iran "will go on for an extended period of time," the Reuters/Ipsos poll found. Just 16 percent said the conflict would likely end in a few weeks.
Trump Justifies High Gas Prices
Trump told a political rally in Garden City, New York, on Friday that paying "a tiny little bit more for your gasoline" is worth the cost of ensuring "a very evil country" could not have a nuclear weapon, one of his stated rationales for the war.
Throughout the conflict, the president has alternated between threats of escalation and assertions that a peace deal is imminent. Only one in five Americans - and just half of Republicans - think the war has been worth it, the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll found.
Concerns about the war and gasoline prices have Republicans nervous about their hopes of defending their slim majority in the US House of Representatives in the Nov 3 elections, and Democrats increasingly see the US Senate also within their grasp.
Reuters/Ipsos polling this month has shown voters prefer Democrats over Republicans as better stewards of the economy for the first time in about a decade. The latest poll showed 38 percent of voters think Democrats will handle the economy better, compared to 35 percent who prefer the Republican approach. Democrats are also seen as better equipped to manage the cost of living.
The Republican approach to immigration has remained more popular than that of Democrats throughout Trump's term, with a sharp fall in border crossings and sustained nationwide crackdown ordered by Trump. But Republicans are losing ground amid deadly confrontations and a surge in detainees, including children.
Some 40 percent of registered voters said Republicans have the better approach on immigration policy, compared to 38 percent who pick Democrats, according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll. That 2 percentage point spread is the lowest of Trump's term. Republicans led by 26 points in January 2025.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll, which was conducted online, gathered responses from 1,166 US adults nationwide and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points in either direction.
