Trump’s Approval Tanking; He Says He Doesn’t “Think About Americans’ Financial Situation” When Negotiating With Iran

President Donald Trump said yesterday that the only issue that matters to him when negotiating is preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and that how Americans are doing financially is not a consideration.

Trump uttered the remark before he departed on his trip to China.

But Trump’s insistence on peddling a narrative that U.S. intelligence agencies have said is false has landed him in hot water with Americans. His job approval ratings have tanked, and those marks are consistent with the opposition of Americans to the war against Iran.

War Polling

As for the war, the polling data are and have been consistent. Americans who answered pollsters aren’t interested in a war against Iran on Israel’s behalf, and they apparently don’t much care whether Iran has or obtains a nuclear weapon.

All 18 U.S. intelligence agencies had concluded that Iran was not building a nuclear weapon before Trump listened to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bogus claims and launched the war.

That aside, the RealClearPolitics average of polls is clear: Americans didn’t and don’t want war with Iran. Just 40 percent of those polled support it, while 54.7 percent oppose it.

Just nine polls among dozens since February 28, the day the U.S. and Israel began bombing Iran, show support for the war.

An Economist/YouGov poll that ended on May 11 showed that those surveyed oppose the war by a margin of 22 points, 56-34. A Reuters/Ipsos survey that ended the same day showed a 26-point margin: 61 percent opposed the war, 35 percent supported it.

Just two of the last 30 polls showed support for the war, and only by 4 points and 1 point.

Message: Stop bombing Iran and bring the troops home.

The polling data on Trump’s job performance is similar. Just 40.2 percent of those polled approve of what Trump is doing, and 56.5 percent disapprove.

In some cases, the polls show margins higher than 20 points. A Pew Research poll in late April showed that those surveyed disapproved of Trump by a 64-34 margin, a whopping 30 points.

Just one poll since March favored Trump … and by just 2 points.

American Finances Not His Concern

As the war drives gas prices to the heavens — nationwide average today, $4.511 — Trump insinuated before his China junket that he doesn’t much care. The important thing, he said, is Iran’s nuclear weapons, such as they are, in keeping with Netanyahu’s narrative.

On the White House lawn about to board Marine One for his flight to Air Force One, Trump was crystal clear when a reporter asked how much Americans’ financial situation is motivating him to make a deal with Iran.

“Not even a little bit,” Trump replied:

The only thing that matters when I’m talking about Iran — they can’t have a nuclear weapon. I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation. I don’t think about anybody. I think about one thing — we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. That’s all.

Another reporter asked whether what he said is true, that he really isn’t worried about how the war is affecting Americans.

Replied Trump:

The most important thing by far — including whether our stock market, which, by the way, is at an all-time high — but including whether or not our stock market goes up or down a little bit, the most important thing by far is Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. Every American understands.

Vance, Johnson Reply

“I don’t think the president said that,” replied Vice President J.D. Vance when a reporter asked about Trump’s remark:

I think that’s a misrepresentation of what the president said. But, look, I agree with the president that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon.

Also asked about the president’s remarks, Israel-first GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson (La.) said, “I don’t know the context in which he made that comment.”

Johnson said he speaks to Trump multiple times a day and that he does care about Americans’ financial situation. But Trump is “laser-focused” on resolving the war because, “if we get the Strait of Hormuz win, we get the Strait of Hormuz reopened, and that will alleviate a lot of pressure with gas prices and other things in the economy.”

The Strait of Hormuz was open before the U.S.-Israel attack.

X journalist Mario Nawfal thinks Trump was negotiating with Iran when he uttered the imprudent remark, and that Democrats will run with it come Election Day.

“On the surface, this is the worst soundbite of his presidency,” Nawfal wrote:

Democrats are already clipping this for every ad between now and 2028.

But step back and think about who else is listening. 

Iran’s negotiators are watching every word. 

If Trump admits the economic pain is driving him toward a deal, Tehran’s next counteroffer gets worse overnight. 

Why concede anything when the American president just told you his own economy is forcing his hand?

Saying “I don’t think about it” is negotiation, not indifference. 

Trump is informing Iran that “economic fallout” won’t make him accept an insufficient offer from Iran, the popular X journalist wrote. Problem is, he continued, while the soundbite might worry Iranian leaders, it wrecks Trump among Americans.

“You can’t tell 330 million Americans you don’t think about their wallets and expect them to hear the subtext,” he wrote:

The average voter [doesn’t] parse negotiating strategy.

They just hear a president who doesn’t care.

And that clip will follow him to every gas station in every swing state from now until Election Day.