What Americans think about Trump's handling of Iran, according to a new
AP-NORC poll
[June 20, 2026]
By LINLEY SANDERS and AMELIA THOMSON-DEVEAUX
WASHINGTON (AP) — Most Americans continue to disapprove of how President
Donald Trump is handling Iran, while his overall presidential approval
holds steady, according to a new AP-NORC poll that was conducted as he
suggested a deal with Iran had been reached.
The poll points to just how unpopular the war, which began Feb. 28, has
been with Americans even as the Republican president turned abruptly
from threatening Iran to reopening negotiations. Support for his
handling of the war remains lopsidedly partisan. About two-thirds, 65%,
of U.S. adults disapprove of how Trump is handling issues with Iran. But
while the vast majority of Democrats and independents view Trump’s
actions negatively, only 28% of Republicans are unhappy.
Americans’ views on how the president is handling Iran are roughly in
line with his overall job approval, which stands at 37%, unchanged from
an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll
conducted in May.
The new survey was conducted June 11-17, just after Trump called off
threats to escalate the war with Iran. The poll was fielded as Trump
announced a deal with Iran and authorized an end to the U.S. naval
blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, concluding just before the deal was
signed Wednesday.
Approval of Trump’s actions on Iran has been low over the past few
months. But in interviews, some Republicans also weren’t pleased with
the outcome of this week’s agreement, which gives Iran an immediate
benefit, allowing it to sell its oil freely again.
The deal also reopens the strait without tolls for two months, restarts
talks between the U.S. and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear program and calls
for Tehran to dilute its stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
David Farrington, a 79-year-old Republican-leaning independent in Fort
Worth, Texas, “doesn’t have any love lost” for Iran, but he’s frustrated
the agreement focused on the strait and didn’t deliver more on the
country’s nuclear weapons program.
“Any agreement regarding the strait is hardly what I would consider a
recognizable concession on the part of Iran,” Farrington said. “So, I
consider that some fluff that attempts to make this agreement look
better when it’s not.”
Trump’s approval on Iran remains flat
Only about one-third of U.S. adults approve of how Trump is handling
Iran in the new poll, in line with May.
Donald McBride, a 28-year-old independent in Plano, Texas, is frustrated
that Trump has not maintained his campaign promise to keep America out
of foreign wars. McBride voted for Trump but he opposed going to war
with Iran.
“I would like the war to end,” he said. “The original objective of the
war was to end the Iranian regime, and that’s just not possible. I don’t
really know why we’d continue fighting.”
The poll suggests most Americans want action in Iran to wrap up. Even
with an agreement on the horizon, 53% of U.S. adults said American
military action against Iran had “gone too far,” only a slight decline
from 59% in March.
About 4 in 10 Republicans, though, said in the latest poll that action
has been “about right,” and 37% said it had not gone far enough.
Joan Jones, a 64-year-old independent in northwest Florida, believes the
United States’ actions in Iran have been necessary to address the threat
Iran posed.
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U.S. President Donald Trump, center, takes questions during a media
conference at the end of the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France,
Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
“Those attacks are ultimately to protect us from nuclear attacks,”
Jones said. “I think we have to go through that … and eliminate that
worry so we don’t have that hovering over us.”
Few approve of Trump’s approach on Israel
About one-third, 34%, of U.S. adults approve of how Trump is
handling Israel.
Tensions have been rising between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu and Trump as the president criticizes recent Israeli
attacks in Lebanon, which jeopardized negotiations between
Washington and Tehran.
James Huffman, a 69-year-old Republican in Medway, Ohio, thinks
Trump is taking the wrong strategy when it comes to Netanyahu.
“Netanyahu is not going to do everything Trump wants. He’s going to
do what he wants,” Huffman said. “I just don’t think it’s
effective.”
Only about one-third approve on the economy
About one-third of U.S. adults approve of Trump’s approach to the
economy. That’s in line with last month, and continues a challenging
stretch for Trump on the issue.
Jones, the Florida independent, is more optimistic than most. She
said she can hardly leave the house some hours without getting stuck
in the traffic of tourists headed to the beach on vacation. She also
spots lines around the block for Starbucks, McDonalds and Chick-fil-A
in her community — all signs to her that the economy is doing well
overall.
“I think President Trump’s policies are contributing to a better
economy,” Jones said.
Other Republicans are more skeptical, a troubling sign for a
president who prides himself on his business acumen. Only 69% of
Republicans approve of how he’s handling the economy, slightly lower
than the 78% who approve of how he’s handling the presidency
overall.
Patricia Bailey, a 42-year-old Republican in Parkersburg, West
Virginia, sees an economy where prices have gotten out of control.
“I just said the other night, ordering pizza is for rich people,”
she said. Bailey voted for Trump but added, “He’s kind of let me
down a little bit.”
Even if high prices preceded Trump, Bailey doesn’t think he’s lived
up to his pledge to improve the economy.
“I think he got so distracted with the war that he forgot some old
promises,” she said.
___
The AP-NORC poll of 3,040 adults was conducted June 11-17 using a
sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which
is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin
of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 2.8 percentage
points.
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