Americans largely oppose Iran war, want Trump to end it now

A new CBS News poll found that more than two-thirds of Americans wanted the Trump administration to end the war with Iran now, a sharp warning as midterm campaigning draws closer and Washington fights over how long the conflict can continue. Most respondents disapproved of the war, and they described it mainly through uncertainty and frustration rather than confidence.

The poll also showed that most Americans thought the Iran war was more difficult than Donald Trump had expected. In polling completed just before news of U.S. airstrikes on Iran, most said the United States should at least be pressuring or engaging the Iranian leadership in some form, suggesting that public opposition to a drawn-out war did not amount to a blanket rejection of diplomacy or leverage.

That split has collided with the War Powers Resolution of 1973, the law that limits the use of force without congressional authorization after a set period. On May 1, Trump faced a key deadline under that law as lawmakers weighed whether the White House needed Congress’s approval before any further military action against Iran.

The Senate later rejected a war powers resolution aimed at limiting Trump’s authority, but the vote still exposed the divide inside Washington. Four Republicans, Susan Collins of Maine, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Rand Paul of Kentucky, joined nearly all Democrats in support. The result underscored how far the political fight had moved beyond the battlefield and into the Senate.

Trump and his advisers have tried to argue that the conflict would not drag on endlessly, and by mid-June he was touting a framework agreement with Tehran to end the monthslong confrontation. Even so, lawmakers remained split over whether Trump needed congressional approval before more military action, a dispute that leaves both the White House and congressional allies exposed if the war keeps dominating the agenda.

That matters most with the midterms approaching. The public mood in the poll points to a widening gap between military policy and voter tolerance, and if the conflict stays unresolved, the pressure will not stop at the Oval Office. It will reach the Republicans in Congress who have to defend their votes, their seats and a war that most Americans already want to see ended.