President Donald Trump shared a poll from last month that found a majority of Americans back the end of his war in Iran, as the White House used the survey to urge voters to “trust in Trump.”
The Big Data Poll was dated June 29, before hostilities between the U.S and Iran had fired up again.
Trump posted the poll Monday morning on Truth Social, which found 60.4 percent of voters supported the Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. and Iran — an agreement that was supposed to halt military operations in the region and eventually lead to a permanent peace deal and which has effectively collapsed.
Since then, the bombing and retaliatory strikes have resumed, killing three American service members in recent days, and the crucial global waterway, the Strait of Hormuz, remains largely closed.
The White House also touted the poll Monday, framing the findings on social media as “TRUST IN TRUMP” and “Voters Overwhelmingly Support Iran Peace Deal.”
Many replied to the White House post to air their opposition to Trump’s war in Iran, which he unleashed on February 28.
Podcaster and entrepreneur Mario Nawfal said that the poll Trump was celebrating is “for a deal that's already collapsed.”
Another account said the poll was “psychological warfare on their own citizens.”
“President Trump’s first preference is always diplomacy, which is why the United States entered into a performance-based Memorandum of Understanding with Iran. Unfortunately, Iran violated that agreement, and United States Central Command is now focused on degrading the regime’s ability to subvert the free flow of energy in the Strait of Hormuz,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement to The Independent.
“All of President Trump’s actions have reduced Iran’s nuclear threat and obliterated their military capabilities, and the American people know that this President’s top priority is keeping them safe,” she added.
The poll cited by Trump Monday, now three weeks old, said the president’s overall approval had received an 8-point bump, putting the president’s rating at 42.9 percent.
By contrast, a more recent Washington Post/Ipsos poll from July 8 - 13 had Trump’s approval rating at 37 percent, unchanged from the same poll in April. Trump only had a 29 percent approval of his conduct in overseeing the Iran war, according to the poll.
It comes as American forces launched a ninth consecutive night of strikes Sunday as Iran ramped up missile and drone attacks on U.S. allies and assets in the Persian Gulf in response.
“Iran has been very, very badly damaged,” Trump told reporters Sunday night. “We hit them very hard again tonight, and we did that in honor of the probably three — it’s probably three, as opposed to two — great patriots,” he said of the fallen U.S. service members.
The Trump administration mounted a new wave of strikes earlier this month after accusing Iran of attacking merchant ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran then launched attacks at Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Syria and Jordan, warning of a “full-scale offensive” should U.S. attacks continue.
