President Donald Trump claimed that he gave Operation Epic Fury a green signal after a prolonged thought process, talks with senior Republican representatives at the White House and support from Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
However, the war in Iran may have negatively impacted Trump’s ratings as a leader ahead of the midterm elections in November 2026. The 79-year-old has maintained an ambitious stance in U.S.’s recent joint attacks with Israel on Iran, despite lawmakers and critics questioning the end goal of the military strikes that caused fatalities and destruction.
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On Monday (March 16) night, Joe Kent announced his resignation as the director of the United States National Counterterrorism Center, citing concerns over the U.S.-Israel war on Iran. The former Army veteran issued his thoughts on a government letterhead and posted it on X.
Alongside other senior officials, Trump reacted to his resignation and said, “It’s a good thing that he’s out because he said that Iran was not a threat.” The president called Kent “a nice guy” who was “very weak on security”.
According to USA Today, recent polling data shows Trump’s approval rating is in negative territory, with about 40 percent to 42-44 percent of Americans approving of his job performance and roughly 55 percent disapproving.
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While he still holds strong support within Republican Party loyalists, where more than 80 percent of voters approve of his leadership, public opinion on Operation Epic Fury remains divided.
As of March 19, 2026, the U.S.-Israel strikes have entered their 20th day. These include attacks on oil refineries in the Gulf regions, Israel’s strikes on Iranian gas fields, and Iran’s retaliatory strikes on major infrastructure in Dubai and Qatar.
In February, when Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the strikes, Trump clarified the U.S. stance, stating, “It is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard, terrible people.”
Furthermore, the low approval numbers and the latest data ahead of the midterm elections, which often serve as a referendum on the sitting president, could raise concerns for Republicans who wish to seek control over Congress in November.
According to polling averages from RealClearPolitics as of Wednesday, March 18, about 42.3 percentage of Americans approve of Trump’s performance, while 55.2 percentage disapprove.
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Around 60 percent of Americans now say the country is headed in the wrong direction and have blamed the president for allegedly trying to turn the country into an authoritarian leadership.
These results are not only tied to his attacks on Iran, but also to the outrage after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) fatally shot two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis, public disappointment from the delay in releasing documents tied to the Epstein Files Transparency Act, and a Supreme Court ruling against several of Trump’s tariffs.
Consequently, approval rating hit a low of 42 percent in mid-February, with a net approval of -13.5 points, which happens to be his weakest showing so far.
Meanwhile, the New York Times polling average shows Trump’s approval at 40 percent, also a low point first reached in February, with disapproval at 55 percent. His highest disapproval rating in the last couple of weeks reached 57 percent on March 1.
A recent Economist/YouGov poll found 84 percent of Republicans approve of his performance, compared to just 4 percent of Democrats. Likewise, a Morning Consult poll showed 86 percent approval among Republicans, while only 10 percent of Democrats expressed support.
In February, Trump claimed his “poll numbers are great” on a Truth Social post. However, the real numbers will be known only when the “big day” arrives on November 3, 2026.
