As the Rope Frays: A Significant Shift in Public Opinion

News:

Poll: Trump’s Iran war reaches Iraq- and Vietnam-era disapproval levels. (Washington Post)

Comment:

Recent polling indicates that public disapproval of the U.S. war with Iran is overwhelming. The Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos survey found that 61% of Americans believe that the use of military force against Iran was a mistake. This level of disapproval is far higher than early opposition to the Iraq War in 2003. In addition, 60% of respondents fear the conflict increases the likelihood of a recession, while 56% believe it weakens the United States. Taken together, these figures suggest that a majority of Americans view the war as contributing more to instability than to national security.

That disapproval is also tied to growing financial frustration at home. As gas prices hit a four-year high, half of Americans expect prices at the pump to rise even further over the next year. As a result, many households are already changing their daily lives. Forty percent report being worse off financially compared to when President Trump returned to office in 2025, up from 33% just months earlier, while 23% say they are actively falling behind financially. More than 40% have reduced driving or cut other household expenses due to rising fuel costs.

At the same time, the administration keeps selling the public the illusion that Iran has been crippled, that America is in total control, and that this confrontation is some great strategic victory. However, behind the slogans, internal assessments tell a very different story. Iran still retains most of its missile-launching capability, nearly two-thirds of its air force, and enough naval power in the Strait of Hormuz to disrupt one of the most critical energy chokepoints in the world. Meanwhile, the United States - supposedly the untouchable superpower - is burning through Tomahawk missiles, interceptors, and other key munitions at an alarming rate, with stockpiles already strained by endless political blunders. The reality is not dominance, but depletion.

While ordinary Americans are told to wave flags and chant “America First,” they are the ones paying the price. Higher gas prices, rising costs of living, economic instability, and the looming threat of shortages in energy, fertilizers, petrochemicals, and even helium all stem from this ill-conceived confrontation.

The reality is that another round of fighting would further drain military stockpiles, reveal the weakness of the so-called U.S. security umbrella in the Gulf, and expose the myth of the “strongest military in history” struggling to decisively defeat a heavily sanctioned regional power.

Pertinently, the significant question is the U.S. administration truly concerned about the well-being of ordinary Americans? Why not it cut its losses and retreat? The answer may not be because it is impossible, but because doing so would conflict with American and Zionist entity’s colonial foreign policy priorities. This is where the “America First” slogan is exposed for what it really is - empty branding. There is nothing “America First” about hurting ordinary American tax payers, risking domestic economic stability, and dragging America deeper into yet another never ending war to further American imperialism and preserve the cancerous Zionist entity.

A Pew study released April 7 shows that 60% of Americans now view ‘Israel’ unfavorably, marking a significant shift in public opinion in the United States. The divide is especially pronounced along party lines: about 80% of Democrats hold unfavorable views of ‘Israel', while disapproval is also rising among Republicans, with 41% overall and 57% of Republicans aged 18-49 expressing unfavorable views.

This trend is notable given that the United States is the Zionist entity’s most critical sponsor, providing billions in military aid, supplying much of its defense equipment, serving as its largest trading partner, and offering consistent diplomatic support, including vetoes at the U.N. Security Council. The growing unfavorable sentiment across the American public toward the war and the Zionist entity will only be magnified as the cost continues to increase.

Clearly, the emergence of a Khilafah (Caliphate) would accelerate the erosion of public support for American imperialism and the Zionist project, particularly as the perceived costs of continued backing come to outweigh the claimed benefits.

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Haitham Ibn Thbait
Media Representative of Hizb ut Tahrir in America