100 days into the war on Iran, Trump fails to rally US support

Published 6 June 2026 · politics

The unpopularity of the war may affect the US approach to the conflict and hurt Republicans in the elections, analysts say. Sunday marks 100 days

The unpopularity of the war may affect the US approach to the conflict and hurt Republicans in the elections, analysts say. Sunday marks 100 days into the war that the United States and Israel launched against Iran. But as fighting and ceasefire negotiations continue to grind on, the conflict remains overwhelmingly unpopular among the US public, making it a political liability for President Donald Trump and his Republican Party. Even before the war started, public opinion polls showed that most Americans opposed bombing Iran. When the fighting began, the numbers did not improve, with many US voters perceiving the war as unnecessary and detrimental to the country. “What’s really clear is that few Americans think that this war with Iran serves American interests,” said Shibley Telhami, a professor of peace and development at the University of Maryland, who has conducted polling on the war. The lack of public backing for the war is consequential, experts say, because it could weaken Trump politically at home. Democrats are hoping to regain control of Congress in the midterm elections in November, which could derail Trump’s agenda for the rest of his presidency. A University of Maryland Critical Issues Poll suggested on Thursday that only 16 percent of US voters think the US has won or is winning the war. The findings show that the US public is not convinced by the president’s repeated claims of victory. The survey also found that a majority of voters, including 33 percent of Republicans, say the war has had more negative than positive effects on US interests. In comparison, only 12 percent of respondents, including 25 percent of Republicans, said the war’s impact has been more positive than negative. Telhami called the results “stunning”. “This assessment now that the war has become more detrimental to America’s interests among Republicans is a major turning point because it seems to hold for older as well as younger Republicans, and that I think spells trouble for Trump ahead,” he told Al Jazeera. Persisting blockades The US and Israel started bombing Iran on February 28, killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and several top officials as well as hundreds of civilians.

Iran responded with missile and drone attacks against Israel and across the region. It also immediately shut down the Strait of Hormuz, a major shipping lane for energy products, sending oil and gas prices soaring. A truce was reached on April 6, but skirmishes have continued to break out in the Gulf, and the Iranian blockade in Hormuz has persisted. The US has also imposed its own naval siege on Iranian ports. Despite frequent assertions by Trump that the two sides are close to a deal, there has been no major diplomatic breakthrough to end the state of “no war, no peace”. Since the ceasefire started, there has been no intense fighting, but that has not improved perceptions about the conflict in the US. “It’s just a very unpopular war,” said Jonathan Guyer, a programme director at the Institute for Global Affairs (IGA), which has done polling about the conflict. “It’s a little more popular among Republicans than Democrats, but still, there’s a quotient of Republican dissent that’s really interesting.” An IGA poll last month showed 58 percent of respondents, including 21 percent of Republicans, disapprove of Trump’s handling of the war. Only 24 percent said the conflict is making the US more safe. While foreign policy rarely ranks near the top of voters’ priorities, the closure of the Hormuz Strait is hitting Americans in their wallets and fuelling inflation. Americans seem to be keenly aware of the link. The IGA survey suggested that 79 percent of voters, including a majority of Republicans, Democrats and independents, say the war “has affected the cost of living” in the US. Telhami said the conflict is now an economic problem for the US, not just a foreign policy one, and that will play a major role in the midterms. “It’s a pocketbook issue now,” he said. “It’s no longer just a foreign exercise. It’s no longer just something that’s taken place away from our shores.” ‘I don’t care about the midterms’ Trump has dismissed the economic fallout of the war, often pointing to recent stock market gains.