Higher gas prices are the outcome Americans worry about most nearly six weeks into the U.S. military campaign against Iran, according to a Pew Research Center survey that found the public also uneasy about the risk of the war spreading and drawing in U.S. troops. The survey, conducted from March 23 to 29, 2026, asked 3,507 adults and captured a country split by party, by confidence in President Donald Trump, and by fear of where the conflict may go next.
That concern comes at a moment when the war has already become personal for most Americans. Pew found 77% said the U.S. military action against Iran is important to them personally, including 48% who said it is very important. Republicans were slightly more likely than Democrats to say so, at 81% and 76% respectively, but the broader mood was one of anxiety rather than certainty. Majorities also worried about the United States sending ground troops into Iran, large numbers of military casualties, terrorist attacks on U.S. soil, and the war expanding outside the Middle East.
On civilian casualties, Americans were nearly evenly divided over whether Washington is doing enough to prevent them. Forty-one percent said the U.S. is doing enough, while 45% said it is not, and 13% were not sure. The split ran sharply along party lines: 65% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents said the U.S. is doing enough, while 68% of Democrats and Democratic leaners said it is not. Most adults, 69%, also said Iran itself is not doing enough to prevent civilian deaths.
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The survey also showed limited faith in Trump’s handling of Iran. Just 35% of Americans said they are confident in his policymaking on the issue, compared with 64% who are not confident. Confidence was far higher among Republicans, 66%, than among Democrats, where only 7% said they were confident. Pew said confidence in Trump’s ability to make good decisions about U.S. policy toward Iran has declined among both parties, underscoring how quickly the conflict has become a test of presidential judgment as well as military strategy.
Public expectations about what the strikes will accomplish were just as divided. Twenty-seven percent said U.S. military action will make Iran’s development of a nuclear weapon more likely, another 27% said it will make that less likely, and 29% said it will be about as likely as before; 16% were not sure. Americans were also split over what the war will mean for the Iranian people after it ends: 36% said they will be worse off, 25% said better off, 16% said about as well off as before, and 21% were not sure.
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The timing matters because the survey was taken nearly six weeks into a campaign that began in February 2026, after the fighting had already moved from a distant headline to a live domestic worry about prices, casualties, and escalation. Pew said its findings reflect the views of the full U.S. adult population, and the center has been tracking Americans’ views of politics, military force and other major policy questions for decades.
What stands out now is not just the partisan split, but the narrowness of the public’s confidence in where this is headed. Americans are worried about gas prices, but they are even more uneasy about a war that could widen faster than policymakers can explain it.
