Trump Poll: 41% Approve Of Iran Strike, But 59% Disapprove Of Trump's Foreign Policy

The assassination of Iranian major general Qasem Soleimani on January 3 in Baghdad, Iraq on orders of president Donald Trump continues to divide Americans, with respondents in a new poll revealing only four in 10 Americans approving the murder. On another issue, nearly six in 10 Americans disapprove of Trump's handling of U.S. foreign policy to date.

Two new AP-NORC Polls conducted Jan. 16 to 20 and the other from Jan. 16 to 21 involving a total of 2,400 respondents also show a division along partisan political lines on Soleimani's murder and U.S. foreign policy. It shows 41 percent of Americans approve of Trump's decision to conduct the aerial drone strike that killed Soleimani. Another 30 percent disapprove while 28 percent had no opinion.

As might have been expected, Republicans strongly approve of the assassination operation, while Democrats were more negative. The poll respondents were also increasingly worried about Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

Fifty-six percent said they're extremely or very concerned about Iran's nuclear program, up from 48 percent in January 2019. Overall, 39 percent of respondents approve of how Trump is handling foreign policy, while 59 percent disapprove.

Other poll findings about Trump's foreign policy:

• A majority of both Republicans and Democrats are concerned about the danger to the U.S. posed by Iran’s nuclear program.
• Republicans worry more about the threat of illegal immigration while Democrats are antsier about climate change, global Russian and Chinese influence and North Korea’s nuclear program that might threaten the U.S.
• Americans are more pessimistic about the country’s relationships with hostile countries such as Russia and North Korea. Close to five in 10 respondents (46 percent) in the new poll think relations with these countries will deteriorate over the next year. In the poll taken January 2019, 39 percent expect these diplomatic relationships to worsen.
• Americans now expect the U.S.' relations with its allies will improve with 26 percent saying bonds with traditional allies such as Canada, the U.K. and the E.U. will improve over the next year, compared to only 18 percent in 2019.
  Americans are also upbeat about their country's international standing. The new poll shows 29 percent expect America's international reputation to improve in 2020 compared to the 21 percent that said so at this same time in 2019.