Poll: 71 Percent Want the New Congress to End the Iran War, and 62 Percent Want Trump's Tariffs Repealed
The first Reuters/Ipsos poll since the midterms hands the incoming Democratic Congress its marching orders — end the war, repeal the tariffs, and work on the cost of living in the first 100 days.
WASHINGTON — A week after voters handed Democrats their largest congressional majorities since at least 2008, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll puts numbers on what those voters expect: 71 percent of Americans want the new Congress to pass legislation ending the war with Iran, and 62 percent would support repealing the tariffs President Donald Trump put in place.
The Iran number crosses party lines. The four-day poll, completed Monday, found 93 percent of Democrats and 51 percent of Republicans want Congress to end the conflict Trump launched alongside Israel in February. Reuters reported the war has pushed fuel prices sharply higher, adding to inflation already stoked by the new taxes Trump placed on hundreds of imported goods; Trump has defended the war as necessary to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and the tariffs as protection for American industry.
Cost is the through-line: nine in 10 respondents said cost-of-living issues should be a focus for Congress during its first 100 days, ahead of artificial-intelligence regulation, immigration reform and climate change. Democratic leaders have vowed to address cost of living and say they will try to force an end to the war and to Trump's tariffs when they take power on January 3.
The poll also carries a warning for the incoming majority. Some 42 percent of respondents said it would be bad for the country if the new Congress tried to impeach Trump, compared with 33 percent who said it would be good. Large majorities in both parties said it was important for Trump and for Democratic leaders to try to work with each other. The cooperation question arrives in a sharp-edged week: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is expected to face a House impeachment vote this week following a move by a Republican lawmaker, and Trump has promoted Stephen Miller — who has called the Democratic Party a domestic extremist group — to White House chief of staff.
Neither side is popular. Trump's approval rating stands at 32 percent, near the lowest of his political career; 45 percent of Americans view Democrats favorably and 51 percent unfavorably, while 35 percent view Republicans favorably and 60 percent unfavorably. The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online nationwide among 1,705 U.S. adults and had a margin of error of about 2 percentage points.
