Trump Approval Hits 33% Low Amid Iran Conflict

President Donald Trump saw his job approval rating drop to 33%, a record low for his second term and tied with his lowest rating from December 2017. According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll of 1,166 adults conducted between August 14 and 17, 64% of respondents disapprove of his performance. A separate Financial Times/Focaldata poll of registered voters reported a slightly higher approval rating of 35%.

The decline is driven by public dissatisfaction with the war in Iran, which began in February to dismantle the country's nuclear weapons program. Military strikes conducted by the U.S. and Israel have paralyzed 20% of the global oil trade and pushed national average gasoline prices from under $3 to over $4 per gallon. While Trump previously claimed the conflict would last only a few weeks, 80% of Americans now believe U.S. involvement will continue for an extended period.

At a rally in Garden City, New York, Trump defended the fuel costs as a necessary price to prevent a "very evil country" from acquiring nuclear weapons. The economic fallout has shifted voter sentiment; for the first time in roughly a decade, more voters prefer Democrats (38%) over Republicans (35%) to manage the economy. Republicans maintain a narrow lead on immigration policy, with 40% of registered voters preferring their approach over the Democratic method (38%).