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US President Donald Trump
Only one in four Americans approve of the attacks that killed Iran’s leader over the weekend. Republicans warned Trump.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed the death of at least three soldiers in an operation against Iran on Sunday, with five more “seriously” injured. The attacks by Washington and Israel continued on Monday, already on the third day of a campaign that Trump says aims to remove the Iranian government from power. Tehran responded with attacks targeting US assets in the Middle East, and there is increasing fear of a wider conflict.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi sent a letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres and the Security Council, condemning Khamenei’s death as a “cowardly act of terror” and describing the attacks as an “unprecedented and dangerous escalation.”
Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, assured that the country and accused Trump of having transformed the motto “America First” em “Israel First”.
In Washington, the contradictory signals about diplomacy. Sometimes the President suggests the possibility of negotiations; in others, the official line points to a prolonged military campaign, “perhaps for several weeks,” until the Trump administration’s objectives are achieved.
“We’re not going to say what we’re going to do exactly. That would be foolish,” Pete Hegseth said Monday.
Trump pressed ahead with a large-scale military offensive in Iran despite internal Republican warnings that the escalation could be difficult to contain, and that it would have potential political costs for Republicans in the November midterm elections, say senior White House sources and a Republican close to the administration cited by .
There are many supporters of a more aggressive stance towards the Tehran regime, but they are not American citizens. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Sunday indicated that only one in four Americans approve the attacks that killed Iran’s leader over the weekend. About half of those interviewed — including one in four Republicans — considered Trump to be very willing to resort to military force. The inquiry was closed before the Pentagon announced the first American casualties in the operation; on Sunday, the President confirmed the deaths of three soldiers and admitted that more could occur.
Inside the White House, some officials fear that the focus on foreign policy will complicate the party’s electoral strategy, at a time when many voters, tired of wars, prioritize the cost of living over conflicts abroad.
None of the sources predict immediate political consequencesbut rather a one “gradual effect”driven by the duration of the conflict, the scope of retaliation, the number of American casualties, and the .
Before the attacks, Trump would have repeatedly asked briefings about how military action could help him project strength domestically. Several advisors warned, according to the agency, that the available information did not offer clear guarantees that the escalation could be avoided after the start of operations and that the administration risked linking its political fate to an unpredictable outcome.
Even so, Trump will have opted for a line of “decisive action”, convinced that it would reinforce the image of firm leadership, even with potential risks in the medium term.
