When the U.S. kicked off its war with Iran, about 41 percent of Americans approved of the attack, polling at the time found.
That figure is far lower than initial popular support for other major U.S. conflicts in recent decades, according to a New York Times analysis.
In 1941, about 97 percent of Americans supported the U.S. when it declared war on Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor. In more recent conflicts, even ones that later became deeply unpopular, there was still majority support at the outset, including 76 percent for the war in Iraq and 92 percent backing the Afghanistan war at the beginning, the analysis found.
Observers told the paper a variety of factors could explain the lackluster support for Trump’s war in Iran, which has so far killed seven U.S. service members. Political polarization has made it harder for masses of the country to agree on anything, and large parts of both parties are against committing the U.S. to a new overseas conflict.
“Before the Iraq War in 2003, we had a whole year of why this mattered, why we exhausted other operations, why we needed this,” Sarah Maxey, an associate professor of international relations at Loyola University of Chicago, told the paper. “We have not had many foreign conflicts without a clear communication strategy beforehand.”
That lack of messaging, paired with Trump’s campaign promises to avoid unnecessary foreign conflicts, seems to have produced a deeply unpopular war.
A weekend Quinnipiac University poll found that 53 percent of voters oppose the military action in Iran and just 40 percent support it. Approval breaks down on party lines: 89 percent of Democrats and 60 percent of independents oppose the strikes, while 85 percent of Republicans support them, the poll found.
The poll also found that 55 percent of respondents did not think that Iran posed an imminent threat to the U.S. before the strikes, though 77 percent believe it is either very likely or somewhat likely that there will be a terrorist attack in the U.S. as a result of the war.
The Trump administration, for its part, continues to strike a triumphant tone about the conflict.
The U.S. is “crushing the enemy,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday.
“Iran stands alone and they are badly losing,” Hegseth said in a press conference, describing the Iranian regime as “barbaric savages” who are “desperate and scrambling.”
The administration has even made boastful, highlight-reel style videos mixing war footage and clips from video games, though beyond the bluster, the administration is facing scrutiny over an apparent U.S. strike on a girls' primary school in Minab that may have killed more than 150 people.
Internally, however, aides have reportedly urged Trump to start claiming that the U.S. military has mostly achieved its objectives and begin describing an exit plan for the joint American and Israeli campaign, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Insiders fear a drawn-out war could “deplete” Trump’s support from his conservative base, and the multi-billion-dollar conflict will increasingly be a tough sell during a midterm season focused on affordability.
The president has alternated between describing a potential multi-week conflict and declaring that the war could end “very soon” and already is “very complete, pretty much.”
Iran war threatens Easter travel as BA cancels Middle East flights
Son of British couple trapped in Iran asks US for help after being ‘let down’ by UK
Putin gives Trump easy way out of confused Iran war strategy – and he might take it
Tearful relatives of HMS Dragon crew speak of ‘scary and emotional’ farewell
Baltimore shooting updates: Officer and suspect wounded in ‘active shooting’
Trump is grilling aides about Corey Lewandowski’s role in DHS contracts: report
