Trump, dragged down by Iran war, hits lowest approval ever on foreign affairs in new poll

Trump, dragged down by Iran war, hits lowest approval ever on foreign affairs in new poll It comes just over a month before voters head to the polls in the November midterm elections. President Donald Trump addresses the 81st United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 22, 2026, at the U.N. headquarters in New York. | Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Americans gave President Donald Trump his lowest-ever approval rating on foreign affairs in a CNN poll, according to a new survey published Tuesday, as the seven-month-long war in Iran continues to tick along. It’s an alarming sign for Republicans, one that comes just over a month before voters head to the polls in the November midterm elections.

Just 29% of U.S. adults said in the CNN/SSRS survey that they approve of the president’s handling of foreign affairs, down from 42% shortly after he returned to office last year and 36% this March, weeks after the war kicked off. The conflict in Iran is likely driving the downturn. The White House’s messaging that war is necessary to stave off Iran’s nuclear program has been undermined by a sustained spike in global energy prices.

Self-described Democrats and independents overwhelmingly give Trump’s foreign policy a bad grade, with 95% of Democrats and 78% of independents disapproving of the president on foreign affairs. But a notable number of Republicans — 33%— also disapprove. Critics point to a shrinking military stockpile, which Trump and senior officials publicly deny is a problem.

And the war risks expanding yet, with recent Iran-aligned Houthi attacks on a Saudi Arabian oil pipeline. Just 18% of respondents told CNN that Trump’s decisions around the war in Iran were helping the U.S., compared with 70% who said they was hurting American fortunes. And a quarter of respondents told CNN they believed the president had a clear strategy for handling Tehran, down from 40% in the days following the U.S. and Israel’s joint strikes in February.

A handful of Republicans in battleground elections have started to break from Trump on the war, increasingly calling for hostilities to stop. Ashley Hinson, who’s locked in a surprisingly tight battle for the state’s open Senate seat, wrote Monday on X that Iowans “shouldn’t have to foot the bill at the pump or the checkout line for the war in Iran.” She was joined by Mike Rogers, Michigan’s Republican Senate nominee, who said in a video Monday that the “war with Iran needs to end, and end quickly.” Trump, too, is sensing the political dynamics. Earlier this month, he told reporters the war would end “immediately after the election.” “They can’t hold out any longer,” he said.

The CNN poll was conducted by web and telephone Sept. 16-17, with a random sample of 1,206 U.S. adults aged 18 or older. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. Bill Cassidy on vaccines, RFK Jr. and the fight for public trust Your guide to Donald Trump's unprecedented overhaul of the federal government.