Over half of Americans disapprove of how Trump is handling the situation with Iran as tensions near a breaking point
- Fifty-six percent of American voters say they disapprove of how Trump has handled the situation with Iran, according to a poll conducted by Ipsos.
- Fifty-two percent of Americans say the airstrike ordered by President Trump to assassinate Iranian General Qassem Soliemani has made them less safe.
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Americans by and large do not approve of how President Trump is handling the situation with Iran, according to a new poll.
Fifty-six percent of American voters say they disapprove of how Trump has handled the situation with Iran, according to a poll conducted by Ipsos for ABC News. On top of that, 52% of Americans say the airstrike ordered by President Trump to assassinate Iranian General Qassem Soliemani has made them less safe.
And, a net total of 94% of Democrats and 52% of Republicans said they are either somewhat concerned or very concerned about entering into another war in the Middle East. Only 43% of Americans approved how Trump is handling the situation with Iran.
The poll was conducted between January 10 and 11 and surveyed 525 US voters over the age of 18.
Trump ordered the drone strike that killed Soleimani on January 3. On Thursday, Trump said at a press conference he ordered the strike because he had recieved intelligence that Soleimani was plotting to bomb the US embassy in Iraq.
"We did it because they were looking to blow up our embassy," Trump told reporters. "We also did it for other reasons that were very obvious. Somebody died, one of our military people died, people were badly wounded just a week before."
That assertion has been called into question by congressional Democrats and other officials in recent days.
On Sunday, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper backed up Trump's claim of an imminent threat on multiple embassies during an appearance on CBS' "Face the Nation," but said that he hadn't directly seen evidence of potential threats on embassies, as Trump had said.