{"id":47845,"date":"2018-05-08T10:56:16","date_gmt":"2018-05-08T15:56:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2018\/05\/08\/public-is-skeptical-of-the-iran-agreement-and-trumps-handling-of-the-issue\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T10:15:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T14:15:24","slug":"public-is-skeptical-of-the-iran-agreement-and-trumps-handling-of-the-issue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2018\/05\/08\/public-is-skeptical-of-the-iran-agreement-and-trumps-handling-of-the-issue\/","title":{"rendered":"Public Is Skeptical of the Iran Agreement \u2013 and Trump\u2019s Handling of the Issue"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Survey Report<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"More<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As Donald Trump prepares to announce his long-awaited decision on the Iran nuclear agreement, more Americans say they disapprove (40%) than approve (32%) of the agreement, with about a quarter (28%) offering no opinion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opinions about the agreement are less negative today than in September 2015<\/a> and about the same as in July of that year, shortly after the agreement was announced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a number of major stories vying for the public\u2019s attention, relatively few Americans (27%) say they have heard \u201ca lot\u201d about the 2015 agreement on Iran\u2019s nuclear program between Iran, the U.S. and other nations. Nearly half (46%) say they have heard \u201ca little\u201d about the agreement, while 26% say they have heard \u201cnothing at all\u201d about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Republicans<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The latest national survey by Pew Research Center, conducted April 25-May 1 among 1,503 adults, finds that fewer than half (42%) say they are very or somewhat confident in Trump\u2019s handling of the situation with Iran; 52% say they are not too confident or not at all confident in him on this issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Republicans and Republican-leaning independents are somewhat less negative toward the Iran nuclear agreement than they were in 2015, after it was reached. Currently, 53% of Republicans and Republican leaners disapprove of the agreement, while 22% approve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In both September and July of 2015, larger majorities of Republicans disapproved of the Iran agreement (73% in September, 69% in July).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By contrast, opinion among Democrats and Democratic leaners is little changed from 2015. As was the case then, fewer than half of Democrats (43%) approve of the agreement, while 30% disapprove.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fewer than half are confident in Trump\u2019s handling of situation with Iran<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"Wide<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

About a third of Americans (34%) say they are not confident at all in Trump\u2019s handling of the situation with Iran, while another 18% say they are not too confident. About four-in-ten (42%) are very (24%) or somewhat (18%) confident in Trump on this issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Across most issues<\/a>, with the exception of trade and the economy, more have little or no confidence in Trump than say they are at least somewhat confident in him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As with views of Trump\u2019s handling of other issues, confidence in the president on Iran varies widely across partisan groups. About eight-in-ten Republicans and Republican leaners say they are very (54%) or somewhat (29%) confident in Trump on Iran, compared to about one-in-ten Democrats and Democratic leaners (11%). About half of Republicans are very confident (54%), while over half of Democrats (57%) are not at all confident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A large majority of liberal Democrats (75%) say they have no confidence at all in Trump\u2019s handling of the situation with Iran. A somewhat smaller majority of conservative Republicans (63%) say they are very confident in him on this issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, most of those who approve of the Iran agreement have little or no confidence in Trump\u2019s handling of the situation with Iran: 48% have no confidence at all in him, while another 17% have not too much confidence. Among those who disapprove of the agreement, about half (52%) are very or somewhat confident in Trump\u2019s handling of the situation with Iran; 43% have little or no confidence in him on this issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Modest public awareness of Iran deal<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"Only<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Overall, 27% of Americans say they have heard lot about the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran, the U.S. and other nations, while 46% say they have heard a little about it; 26% say they have heard nothing at about the agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In September 2015, after the Iran agreement was reached, somewhat more (36%) said that they had heard a lot about the agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Young people, as well as adults with no more than a high school education, are among the most likely to say they have heard nothing about the Iran deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearly four-in-ten of those under 30 (38%) say they have heard nothing at all about the Iran nuclear agreement, while 45% have heard a little and just 17% have heard a lot about it. Among older age groups, no more than about a quarter say they have heard nothing about the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And while 45% of adults with a postgraduate degree say they have heard a lot about the Iran agreement \u2013 and 40% of those with a four-year degree say the same \u2013 smaller shares of those with some college experience but no degree (30%) and those with no more than a high school diploma (15%) have heard a lot about the agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Republicans are somewhat more likely than Democrats to say they have heard a lot about the Iran nuclear agreement (35% vs. 23%). About a quarter in each party (26% of Democrats, 22% of Republicans) say they have heard nothing at about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The balance of opinion about the Iran nuclear agreement among the minority of adults who have heard a lot about it is similar to views among the overall public: 53% disapprove of the agreement, while 45% approve. Opinion is divided among those who have heard a little about the deal (38% disapprove, 37% approve). Most of those who have heard nothing at all about the agreement express no opinion (59%); among those who offer an opinion, more disapprove (30%) than approve (11%).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As Donald Trump prepares to announce his long-awaited decision on the Iran nuclear agreement, more Americans say they disapprove (40%) than approve (32%) of the agreement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":306,"featured_media":61172,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sub_headline":"Only about a quarter have heard \u2018a lot\u2019 about the nuclear agreement ","sub_title":"Only about a quarter have heard \u2018a lot\u2019 about the nuclear agreement 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