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American voters are evenly divided over the current US military action against Iran, even as a clear majority views the country as a national security threat, according to a Fox News national survey.
Overall, the polls showed that eight in 10 Republicans approve of the current US use of force, while nearly 8 in 10 Democrats disapprove and 6 in 10 independents disapprove. Among voters who have served in the military, 59 per cent approve of the US strikes on Iran. The poll found 61 per cent of registered voters believe Iran poses "a real national security threat" to the United States, a figure largely consistent with previous Fox News surveys dating back to 2006. The exception was last June, when concern spiked to 73 per cent just before the US military mission against Iranian nuclear facilities known as Operation Midnight Hammer. Fox News said that, despite those concerns, support for the current US strikes, launched jointly with Israel under "Operation Epic Fury", is evenly split, with 50 per cent approving and 50 per cent disapproving. All interviews for the survey were conducted after the strikes began. Partisan divisions are stark. More than eight in 10 Republicans approved of the current use of force, while nearly eight in 10 Democrats disapproved. Among independents, roughly six in 10 disapproved of the strikes. Among voters who have served in the military, 59 per cent approved of the US strikes on Iran, while 39 per cent disapproved, Fox News said. The poll also showed scepticism about President Donald Trump''s handling of Iran. A majority, that is 51 per cent, said his approach has made the United States less safe, up from 43 per cent last July. Twenty-nine per cent believe his actions have made the country safer. By comparison, when voters were asked the same question about former President Joe Biden in 2023, 50 per cent said Biden''s handling of Iran made the US less safe, while 12 per cent said safer. Among Republicans, while over 80 per cent approved of the strikes, only six in 10 say Trump''s actions are making the country safer. Nearly eight in 10 Democrats say the strikes make the US less safe, and similar majorities disapprove of the military action overall. At least six in 10 independents share that view on both counts, according to the Fox News polls. Veterans appear more divided than the general electorate on the broader safety question; that is, 37 per cent said Trump''s actions have made the country safer, while 44 per cent say less safe. Trump''s foreign policy approval rating stood at 40 per cent, with 60 per cent disapproving, including 21 per cent of Republicans. Overall job approval for Trump was 43 per cent, with 57 per cent disapproving, little changed from earlier readings in January and December. On America''s standing globally, 56 per cent said the US is less respected around the world than it was four years ago, an improvement from 61 per cent who said the same in 2024 under Biden. Meanwhile, 30 per cent said the US is more respected, up from 23 per cent under Biden and 29 per cent during Trump''s first term. Two-thirds of voters expressed concern that Trump''s use of executive orders and actions without congressional approval may be permanently altering the country''s system of checks and balances, a result Fox News noted is nearly identical to responses when the same question was asked about former President Barack Obama. Looking back at last June''s airstrikes on Iran''s nuclear facilities, voters were closely divided; 30 per cent said the strikes were mostly successful, 31 per cent said mostly a failure, and 37 per cent said it was too soon to tell, similar to views recorded in July 2025 by Fox News. According to Fox News, the survey was conducted from February 28 to March 2, under the direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R). It included interviews with 1,004 registered voters selected from a national voter file and has a margin of sampling error of +-3 percentage points. (ANI)
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