Voters who swung to Trump in 2024 are against his Iran war : NPR

President Trump leaves Monday after a news conference in Miami. Most of the questions asked were about the US-Israeli war against Iran.

Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

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Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

Voters who helped win President Trump’s reelection in 2024 say they do not support his decision to go to war in Iran and instead want U.S. taxpayer dollars spent to combat the growing economic pressures facing most Americans.

NPR observed two online focus groups Tuesday evening with 12 Michigan voters who supported Joe Biden in 2020 and then turned to Trump in 2024. Those groups included eight self-described independents, two Republicans and two Democrats. The focus groups were part of the Swing Voter project run by messaging group Engagious and market research firm Sago. NPR is a partner in the project.

Of the 12 focus group participants, nine said they disapprove of what the United States is doing in Iran. And 11 of 12 respondents said they feel more anxious about the economy today than before Trump returned to power.

Rich Thau, president of Engagious and moderator for both groups, said some of these voters directly attribute some of their economic concerns to military action abroad.

“People are very stressed about the economy, and the attacks on Iran have added to that stress,” he said. “They’ve seen gas prices skyrocket. They’re afraid to travel. … So, they’re stressed. And when they’re stressed, they’re less likely to spend money — they’re less likely to go out. And they’re just concerned about their future.”

Linzi B., a 48-year-old independent voter, was among voters who have doubts about U.S. military action in Iran. (Participants agreed to be part of the focus groups provided they were identified only by their first name and initials.)

Linzi said she’s “not even sure yet” why the United States began bombing Iran, “given all the different versions” of reasons she’s heard from the Trump administration.

“And the enormous cost of war in terms of what it does to our economy, what it does to the global economy,” she said, “when we have enormous needs within our own societies in Michigan, there are families, there are children, there are enormous levels of poverty, and that needs help. We need to help our own citizens first before we go to Iran, Iraq, I don’t know, somewhere else to fight their wars in their place.”

Although focus groups don’t provide statistically significant results like a poll does, they still provide insight into what small groups of voters think about what’s happening in the country.

And in this case, participants’ sentiments match the latest NPR/PBS News/Marist poll, conducted last week, which found that most Americans oppose U.S. military action in Iran.

All three participants who supported the war cited Iran’s long history of antagonism toward the United States and its allies.

But Gina S., a 41-year-old Republican who approves of Trump’s job performance, remains opposed to the decision to go to war in Iran, drawing a connection to the long-running U.S. war in Iraq.

“I’m afraid this will turn into something bigger than what it is now,” she said. “So when we went to Iraq, it went on and on, and I’m afraid it’s going to turn into something like this.”

American relations with Israel

Several voters said they believed the U.S.-Israel relationship at least partially sparked the war in Iran. A recent Gallup poll shows that Americans’ views of Israel have shifted more negatively in recent years.

Influential voters in focus groups also expressed mixed feelings. Five participants said they supported America’s relationship with Israel, three said they opposed it, and four said they were neutral or didn’t know enough to have an opinion.

Mark O., a 48-year-old Democrat, said Israel remained a “safe haven” for the Jewish people after World War II and that the United States had “an obligation to uphold that relationship and support this sovereign nation” and its people.

But Susan B., a 38-year-old Democratic-leaning voter, said she thought it was “not necessary for America to always step in and fight Israel’s wars for them.”

“I don’t understand this relationship,” she said. “I don’t see where our interests lie in this. How does this help American interests? That’s what we haven’t figured out yet and [Trump] hasn’t explained it to us yet.”

Stephanie S., a 41-year-old independent voter, said she was concerned about “the amount of money we are sending” to support Israel.

“It’s extreme,” she said. “A lot of money goes to Israel, and every time Israel says it needs more money, we give it to them.”

Brandon D., a 37-year-old independent voter, said he “believes Israel is a safe haven for Jews. And the only thing I have is that maybe we could be a little firmer with them when it comes to Gaza and that sort of thing, because I feel like Israel is going too far in that area.”

But Brandon said ultimately he was concerned about rising oil costs because of this war.

“I feel like we’re overextended and the price of gas has gone up 20 cents in my neighborhood,” he said. “So I feel like we still have money for bombs, but no money for infrastructure.”

“I never see prices going down.”

Almost across the board, these voters reported feeling less financially secure since Trump took office. When asked, they cited housing, health care, groceries and child care as the most concerning sources of economic stress.

Linzi said that more than a year into Trump’s second term, she is still seeing rising costs on “everything.”

“I have to go to the grocery store every week, and every week the price of everything seems to go up,” she said. “Tariffs have driven up prices on everything, and I don’t ever see prices going down.”

Stephanie J., a 35-year-old independent, said she didn’t think the administration was focused on fighting inflation, which was one of Trump’s main campaign promises in the 2024 race.

“We still seem to support billionaires more than the middle class,” she said.

Thau, the moderator, said undecided voters have been frustrated with the economy for some time, but Trump’s focus on military action overseas has made those frustrations deeper.

“What struck me about these swing voters in Michigan is that it seemed like the president had given them another reason to disapprove of his job performance,” he said, “that it’s an unforced error. They want him to focus on the economy and immigration, and instead he’s taking his eye off the ball.”