Author: Alexander Detev
A number of sociological surveys have shown that support for starting the war in Iran is probably the lowest for a military intervention in US history.
Only 27% of Americans support the offensive, a "Reuters" survey shows. For comparison, support for starting the war in Afghanistan after September 11, 2001, was 92 percent, and for the one in Iraq in 2003 - 75%.
The war divides the MAGA movement
The military actions and the deaths of American soldiers have divided even influencers close to Trump. "He ran on the slogan 'No more wars, end these stupid, pointless wars,' and now we have one that we can't even figure out why we're fighting," Joe Rogan said this week. "It just doesn't make any sense to me unless we're acting in someone else's interest - like Israel's," added the popular podcaster, who officially endorsed Trump in 2024.
Even more strident positions are taken by conservative vloggers and journalists like Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly. Carlson, who became one of the most popular conservative figures online after being fired from Fox News in 2023, has tried to meet with Trump to prevent American involvement in the war, the New York Times reported. The host is extremely critical of Israel, which has led to criticism and accusations of anti-Semitism from leading Republicans such as Ted Cruz. At the same time, surveys show that disapproval of Israel is rising among young Republican voters. This group is also critical of the current intervention in Iran, in which "American soldiers are dying for Iran and Israel," as former Fox News and NBC anchor Megyn Kelly claims.
Many clips are circulating on the Internet in which Trump said during the campaign that he would end American military intervention in other countries and sharply criticized previous wars in the Middle East. At the same time, since returning to the White House in January 2025, he has ordered bombings in Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, Iran, Syria, Yemen and Venezuela.
Midterm elections are knocking on the door
Sociology shows another problem for the Republican Party, which will run for Congress in November - 60% of Americans disapprove of Trump's economic policy. If the conflict in Iran and its severe effect on oil and gas prices continues for a long time, this dissatisfaction is likely to grow. In both the House of Representatives, which will be completely renewed in November, and the Senate, where a third of the seats are up for election, Republicans dominate with a small majority. It is seriously threatened.
Analysis by "Time" shows that in the last three midterm elections, in which the price of oil reached over $ 100 per barrel (adjusted for inflation), the party that elected the president lost an average of 29 seats in the House of Representatives. This would give the Democrats a majority.
Donald Trump has already announced that the war will end soon, but the signals he is giving are not unambiguous. However, it is important for him to end this conflict in a way that he can declare victory if he wants his party to maintain its majority in Congress in the fall. In previous years, military conflicts have consolidated support around the president. But the polarization in American society and the lack of any campaign this time to convince him of the need for intervention against Iran have made this impossible.
"Usually before a war there was a discussion, a debate or even just propaganda," commented Pulitzer Prize winner Anne Applebaum. "This was done to create support for the war and the solutions. But the strange thing about this war is that it didn't happen," she added. The result of all these factors is that the United States is currently fighting what is probably the most unpopular war in its history, the outcome of which seems unclear.