MAGA Republicans still support the Iran war but most other Americans say it was the wrong decision

The U.S. war with Iran is unpopular and most Americans are ready for it to be over. But the exact details of how the war should end are complicated, and Donald Trump's base of MAGA Republicans remains firmly behind his war, the latest Economist / YouGov Poll finds.

A majority (57%) of Americans say going to war in Iran was the wrong decision, while only 27% say it was the right decision. MAGA Republicans overwhelmingly say the war was the right decision and not the wrong one (77% vs. 5%). But almost no Democrats say this (5% vs. 89%), and very few independents do so (13% vs. 85%). While overall most Republicans say the war was the right decision (63% vs. 16%), the roughly 26% of Republicans who say they're non-MAGA Republicans are less likely to say the war was the right decision than the wrong decision (31% vs. 51%).

The overall share of Americans who say the war was the wrong decision has increased slightly since the Economist / YouGov Poll first asked this in April. At that time, 30% of Americans said the war was the right decision and 51% said it was the wrong decision, a net support for the decision of -21 compared to -30 now.

Independents and Democrats have grown slightly more critical of the war since April, with Independents falling to -52 net support from -42 in April, and Democrats falling to -84 from -77.

Republicans overall have fallen to +46 net support from +56, and MAGA Republicans are down slightly to +72 from +75. But non-MAGA Republicans have flipped from being more likely to say the war was the right decision in April to being more likely to oppose it (+18 to -20).

Americans are more likely to disapprove than approve of how Trump is handling Iran, which hasn't changed much since April. In most Economist / YouGov Polls since late April, around 60% of Americans have strongly or somewhat disapproved of how Trump is handling the war and around 30% have approved.

Nearly half (46%) of Americans think the war in Iran will last another year or more, the most to say this in any Economist / YouGov Poll since the war began. The share who say the war will end in a month or less (or is already over) has fallen to 8% from 20% in March. The share who say the war will last between a month and a year longer has held roughly steady: 47% said that in March and 46% do today. The trend understates people's estimates of the war's duration. In March, 32% of Americans thought the war would last a year or more — that is, until at least March 2027. Someone today who thinks the war will be over in spring 2027 would answer more than a month but less than a year, while an answer of a year or more now indicates a belief that the war will last until at least July 2027.

Most Americans say the U.S. should strike a deal to end the war as soon as possible (65%) while only 15% say the U.S. should not do this. Nearly half (48%) of MAGA Republicans and the same share of non-MAGA Republicans want an end to the war as soon as possible. But only 36% of Americans say the U.S. should end the war even if Iran gets to keep its enriched uranium. Another 24% of Americans say the U.S. should end the war as soon as possible — but say otherwise when asked about a deal in which Iran would keep its uranium. These numbers have not changed much from recent months.

Image: Getty (John Moore / Staff)

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