Most Americans Want Democratic Congress to End Trump’s Iran War

President Donald Trump has defended the war, which he launched alongside Israel in February, as necessary to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. The survey, conducted online Nov. 6-9 among 1,705 U.S. adults, found public pressure for the new Democratic majority to force an end to the fighting.

Democrats won their largest majorities in the Senate and House since at least 2008 in last week’s midterm elections, in what Reuters called a sharp rebuke to Trump’s Republicans over high costs and a deeply unpopular war. They will take power when the new Congress is sworn in on Jan. 3.

Legislation, Tariffs and Living Costs

Support for a bill to end the conflict stood at 71% overall, including 70% of independents, the Ipsos topline shows. Some 44% strongly supported the measure and 27% somewhat supported it, while 24% were opposed.

A smaller majority, 62%, said they would support an effort to repeal import tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. That backing was 93% among Democrats but only 32% among Republicans.

The war with Iran has pushed fuel prices sharply higher, Reuters reported, adding to inflation already stoked by the new taxes Trump placed on hundreds of imported goods. The president has said the tariffs will “boost American industry by protecting it from cheap imports.”

Democratic Party leaders have vowed to address cost of living concerns and say they will try to force an end to the U.S. war with Iran. Many in the party have also vowed to end Trump’s tariffs.

Nine in 10 respondents said cost of living issues should be a focus for Congress in its first 100 days. Smaller shares wanted a focus on issues such as artificial intelligence regulation, immigration reform and climate change.

Bipartisanship and Impeachment

Large majorities in both parties said it was important for Trump to make an effort to work with Democrats, and for Democratic leaders to try to work with the president. Ipsos found 81% called it important that Trump work with Democratic leaders, and 74% said the same of Democratic leaders working with Trump.

Many Americans appear wary of Democrats using their new power to launch legal proceedings against Trump. Some 42% said it would be “bad for the country” if the new Congress tried to impeach him, compared with 33% who said it would be good for the country. The rest were not sure or did not answer.

Congressional Democrats are divided on how to bring down health care costs, and also disagree on how aggressively to target Trump, including whether to impeach the president or members of his cabinet. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is expected to face a House impeachment vote this week, following a move by a Republican lawmaker.

While Trump said after the elections he would “probably” get along with Democrats, he also promoted Stephen Miller, a polarizing aide, to be his new White House chief of staff, Reuters reported.

Approval and Party Standing

The poll put Trump’s approval rating at 32%, near the lowest level of his political career, with 65% disapproving. Democrats were not particularly popular either.

Some 45% of Americans had a favorable view of Democrats, while 51% had an unfavorable view. For Republicans, the figures were 35% favorable and 60% unfavorable.

Earlier surveys had already shown broad public opposition to the war. Asked which party had a better approach to regulating artificial intelligence, 28% picked Democrats and 20% picked Republicans, while the rest were not sure or said neither was better.

Ipsos conducted the survey using its probability-based KnowledgePanel. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 2.4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level for the full sample of 1,705 adults.