Iran war takes toll on Trump as approval rating falls to 33% Reuters/Ipsos finds

President Donald Trump’s approval rating has fallen to the lowest level of his presidency, while an overwhelming majority of Americans believe the U.S. war with Iran will continue for an extended period, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that concluded on Monday, August 17.

Just 33% of respondents in the four-day survey said they approved of Trump’s performance as president, while 64% disapproved. His approval rating fell from 35% in a poll completed earlier this month and is now at its lowest point of his current term, matching the low recorded in December 2017 during his previous presidency.

Trump returned to the White House in 2025 with just under half of Americans approving of his presidency, but his standing has deteriorated this year after he ordered strikes on Iran alongside U.S. ally Israel. The resulting conflict disrupted roughly a fifth of global oil trade and drove gasoline prices higher, putting additional pressure on U.S. households and creating a political challenge for Trump’s Republican allies as they defend their congressional majorities in the November midterm elections.

Trump had campaigned on keeping inflation under control and avoiding prolonged wars. He initially said the conflict with Iran would last only a few weeks. Iran, however, has continued to resist U.S. pressure and has kept oil shipments through the strategically important Strait of Hormuz largely constrained, even as the intensity of the conflict has eased.

About 80% of Americans, including 87% of Democrats and 71% of Republicans, believe U.S. involvement in Iran “will go on for an extended period of time,” the Reuters/Ipsos poll found. Only 16% said they expected the conflict to end within a few weeks.

At a political rally in Garden City, New York, on Friday, Trump said paying “a tiny little bit more for your gasoline” was worth the cost of ensuring that “a very evil country” could not obtain a nuclear weapon, citing that as one of his reasons for the war.

Throughout the conflict, Trump has alternated between threats of further escalation and claims that a peace agreement is close. Yet only one in five Americans, including just half of Republicans, believe the war has been worth the cost, according to the latest poll.

The war and higher gasoline prices are also creating concern among Republicans as they seek to preserve their narrow majority in the U.S. House of Representatives in the November 3 elections. Democrats, meanwhile, increasingly see an opportunity to gain control of the Senate as well.

Reuters/Ipsos polling conducted this month found that voters now prefer Democrats over Republicans as the party better equipped to manage the U.S. economy for the first time in about a decade. In the latest survey, 38% said Democrats would handle the economy better, compared with 35% who preferred the Republican approach. Democrats were also viewed more favorably on managing the cost of living.

Republicans have retained an advantage over Democrats on immigration throughout Trump’s current term, following a sharp decline in border crossings and a nationwide immigration crackdown ordered by the president. That advantage has nevertheless narrowed amid deadly confrontations and a growing number of detainees, including children.

Forty per cent of registered voters said Republicans had the better approach to immigration policy, compared with 38% who favoured Democrats. The two-point Republican advantage was the smallest recorded during Trump’s current term. Republicans had led Democrats by 26 points on the issue in January 2025.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online among 1,166 U.S. adults nationwide and has a margin of error of three percentage points in either direction.

By Tamilla Hasanova