Amid talks and a ceasefire, the Iran war looks like unfinished business to many Americans.
That’s because there are things they call important for the U.S. to do — including opening the Strait of Hormuz for oil access, ensuring the Iranian people are free and permanently stopping Iran’s nuclear programs — that they don’t feel have been done yet.
So, in describing their feelings about the conflict of late, Americans pick worry, stress and anger far more than feeling safe or confident.
And in a similar vein, if it were to end now, relatively few call the war a success so far, either in terms of military objectives or U.S. strategic interests. For many, it’s too soon to say — another indication that they aren’t seeing the goals met yet.
Views on this are highly partisan, but also related to whether people think the administration has explained the goals or not — which most still don’t think has happened.
Among those who don’t feel it’s clear, most think the lack of clarity comes from changing the list of goals.
When presented with the president’s full statement, a big majority of Americans said they’d already seen or read at least something about Mr. Trump’s recent Truth Social post that mentioned Iran’s civilization as his deadline approached. Most said they disliked it, at least somewhat. Non-MAGA Republicans disliked it more than liked it, too.
It gets relatively more favor — though hardly widespread — from MAGA Republicans. They tend to say Mr. Trump’s posts involve negotiating strategy at least as much as any actual intentions. Relatively fewer MAGA Republicans say they solely reflect what the president really intended to do.
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