Majority of Americans, including independents, disapprove of Trump's Iran handling, feel less safe, poll finds

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Majorities of Americans disapprove of President Trump's handling of the Iran situation, feel less safe after the U.S. drone strike on Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, and are concerned about a new war in the Middle East, according to an ABC News/Ipsos poll released Sunday. There is a sharp partisan split in the answers, but independents align pretty well with the overall findings.

The poll found that 56 percent of all U.S. adults and 57 parent of independents disapprove of Trump's handling of Tehran tensions, versus 43 percent of both groups who approve of the job Trump's doing with Iran. When asked if the Soleimani strike made them feel more safe, 28 percent of independents and 25 percent of Americans said yes while 51 percent of independents and 52 percent of all voters said no, they feel less safe now.

The only area of broad partisan agreement was on whether Americans are concerned about the chances of this leading to another Middle Eastern war. A 52 percent majority of Republicans joined the 72 percent of independents, 94 percent of Democrats, and 73 percent of all Americans who said they are somewhat or very concerned about the possibility of a new war in he Middle East, the poll found.

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Ipsos conducted the poll Jan. 10-11 among 525 U.S. adults in English and Spanish. The poll's margin of sampling error is ±4.8 percentage points.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.