Report: Americans Oppose War with Iran

The January 2020 Daily Kos/Civiqs Poll asked 1,464 registered voters in the United States about Iran, U.S. foreign policy, and President Trump’s job approval, impeachment, and reelection.

Iran

In the aftermath of the January 3, 2020 U.S. military strike against Iran that killed General Qasem Soleimani, the vast majority of Americans (76%) oppose war with Iran. Democrats are most strongly opposed to going to war (94% against), but most Republicans agree as well (52% against). Even among Republicans, only 21% support going to war.

Americans are divided on the attack itself. Nearly half (46%) support the military operation in Iran, while 42% oppose it. These attitudes are highly polarized by party: 90% of Republicans support the strike, compared to 9% of Democrats. Americans generally believe President Trump’s statement that General Soleimani was caught plotting to kill Americans, 48% to 37%, but this belief is strongest among Republicans (91%) and weakest among Democrats (11%).

Nearly one-third of Americans (30%) currently believe that Iran was involved in the 9/11 terrorist attacks; 40% do not, and 30% are unsure.

U.S. Foreign Relations

Most Americans (51%) disapprove of the foreign policy decisions made by the Trump administration over the past three years. Over half (53%) do not trust President Trump and his administration to make good decisions about U.S. foreign policy. 90% of Democrats disapprove of the Trump administration’s foreign policy decisions, compared to 47% of Independents and 7% of Republicans.

When asked which country is the United States’ greatest geopolitical threat, Russia (37%) and China (30%) topped the list. Iran and North Korea are tied in third with 9%. There is a significant partisan divide on this question: Democrats and Republicans disagree as to which country is the biggest concern. Nearly two-thirds (60%) of Democrats think that Russia poses the biggest problem, with China second (15%) and North Korea a distant third at 9%. In contrast, nearly half of Republicans (45%) think that China is the greatest threat, with Iran second at 18%, and Russia third at 12%.

President Trump

President Trump’s job approval rating in January 2020 is 45%. This number is essentially unchanged from previous surveys. Over half (53%) of Americans currently disapprove of the way President Trump is handling his job as president. President Trump’s strongest base of support is among whites (56% approve), and whites without a college degree (60% approve).

As part of the ongoing impeachment proceedings, more Americans (49%) want the U.S. Senate to remove Donald Trump from office than not (48%).

If the 2020 presidential election were held today, 48% of U.S. registered voters would vote for a generic Democratic Party candidate, to President Trump’s 44%. The remainder say they would vote for a third-party candidate, or are unsure.

Civiqs surveyed 1,464 registered voters in the United States from January 11-14, 2020. The survey was conducted online, among selected members of the Civiqs research panel. Sampled individuals were emailed by Civiqs and responded using a personalized link to the survey at civiqs.com. The survey results are weighted by age, race, gender, education, party identification, and region to be representative of the population of registered voters in the United States. The general design effect due to weighting is 1.08. The survey has a margin of error of ±2.7% at the 95% confidence level, accounting for the design effect.