Fox News poll shows American voters split on Iran military action

Voters are divided over U.S. military action against Iran, although a majority view the country as a security risk.

A new national survey from Fox News finds that 61% of respondents believe Iran poses “a real threat to national security” of the United States. This view is similar to most previous Fox News surveys since 2006. The notable exception was when concern reached 73% last June, just before the U.S. military mission against Iran’s nuclear facilities called Operation Midnight Hammer.

Although a majority considers Iran a danger to the country, this concern does not translate into majority support for current US military action, with 50% approving and 50% disapproving.

Additionally, 51% believe President Trump’s handling of Iran has made the United States less secure, up from 43% last July. Twenty-nine percent say he has made the United States safer. For comparison, when the same question was asked about former President Biden in 2023, 50% said his handling of Iran had made the United States less secure, while 12% said it had made it more secure.

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Among Republicans, more than 8 in 10 approve of the United States’ current use of force, while only 6 in 10 believe the president’s actions toward Iran make the United States safer.

Nearly eight in ten Democrats disapprove of the U.S. strikes and think things are less secure because of Trump’s performance, while six in ten or more independents think the same on both counts.

Among voters who served in the military, 59% approve of US strikes against Iran (39% disapprove). Compared to voters overall, who believe the United States is largely less safe, veterans are more divided on whether Trump’s actions have made the country safer (37%) or less safe (44%).

As part of a joint effort with Israel, the United States began launching strikes against Iran on Saturday morning in a mission called “Operation Epic Fury.” All interviews were conducted after the bombing began, from Saturday to Monday.

Trump’s foreign policy rating is 20 points lower, as 40% approve and 60% disapprove — including 21% of Republicans who disapprove.

Some 43% of voters approve of Trump’s overall performance, while 57% disapprove. In January and December, 44% of them approved of it compared to 56% of them disapproved.

Perceptions of how the United States is viewed abroad have improved slightly since the end of the Biden administration. While a 56% majority say the country is less respected around the world than it was four years ago, that’s an improvement from the 61% who said the same in 2024 under former President Biden. Meanwhile, 30% say the United States is more respected, compared to 23% under Biden and 29% during Trump’s first term.

Two-thirds of voters are generally concerned that Trump’s use of executive orders and actions without congressional approval will permanently alter the nation’s system of checks and balances. The results are almost identical to the same question asked about Barack Obama during his presidency.

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The survey also re-examined attitudes regarding last June’s U.S. airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. When asked to think about it, voters are split between the view that these strikes have been mostly successful (30%) and mostly a failure (31%), but the most common response is that it’s too early to tell (37%). This is roughly the same as in July 2025, immediately after the strikes.

Conducted from February 28 to March 2, 2026, led by Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), this Fox News investigation includes interviews with a sample of 1,004 registered voters randomly selected from a national voter file. Respondents spoke with live interviewers on landlines (104) and cell phones (642) or completed the survey online after receiving a text message (258). Results based on the full sample have a margin of sampling error of ±3 percentage points. Sampling error for results among subgroups is higher. In addition to sampling error, the wording and order of questions can influence the results. Weights are typically applied to age, race, education, and region variables to ensure that demographics are representative of the registered voter population. Sources for developing target weights include the most recent American Community Survey, Fox News Voter Analysis and voter file data.

Fox News’ Victoria Balara contributed to this report.

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