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WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump\u2019s approval rating fell to the lowest level of his presidency, \u200cwith an overwhelming majority of Americans concerned the Iran war will last a long time, according to a Reuters\/Ipsos poll that concluded on Monday.<\/strong><\/p>\n Just 33% of respondents in the four-day survey said they approved of Trump\u2019s performance in the White House, while 64% disapproved. Trump\u2019s approval rating, down from 35% in a poll that closed earlier this month and \u200blower than at any point in his current term, has now tied the lowest level of his prior term reached in December 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n After \u200breturning to the White House in 2025 with just under half the country approving of his presidency, Trump\u2019s popularity \u2060this year took a hit after he ordered strikes on Iran alongside U.S. ally Israel. The ensuing conflict paralyzed a fifth of the global oil trade, \u200btriggering a surge in the price of gasoline that is weighing on U.S. households \u2013 and on Trump\u2019s Republican allies defending congressional majorities in November midterm elections.<\/span><\/p>\n Trump, who \u200bcampaigned on promises to keep inflation in check and avoid long-lasting wars, initially pledged the conflict with Iran would take a few weeks. But Iran has proved resilient and has kept the oil trade through the Strait of Hormuz largely bottled up even as the conflict has cooled.<\/span><\/p>\n Some 80% of Americans \u2013 including 87% of Democrats and 71% of Republicans \u2013 \u200bthink U.S. involvement in Iran \u201cwill go on for an extended period of time,\u201d the Reuters\/Ipsos poll found. Just 16% said the conflict would likely end \u200bin a few weeks.<\/span><\/p>\n Trump told a political rally in Garden City, New York, on Friday that paying \u201ca tiny little bit more for your gasoline\u201d is worth \u200cthe cost \u2060of ensuring \u201ca very evil country\u201d could not have a nuclear weapon, one of his stated rationales for the war.<\/span><\/p>\n Throughout the conflict, the president has alternated between threats of escalation and assertions that a peace deal is imminent. Only one in five Americans \u2013 and just half of Republicans \u2013 think the war has been worth it, the latest Reuters\/Ipsos poll found.<\/span><\/p>\n Concerns about the war and gasoline prices have Republicans nervous about their hopes of defending their slim majority in the \u200bU.S. House of Representatives in the \u200bNovember 3 elections, and Democrats increasingly \u2060see the U.S. Senate also within their grasp.<\/span><\/p>\nTRUMP JUSTIFIES HIGH GAS PRICES<\/span><\/h2>\n