EXCLUSIVE-Americans believe Trump will send troops into Iran, and don't like the idea, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds

By Jason Lange

WASHINGTON, March 19 (Reuters) - Some 65% of Americans believe U.S. President Donald Trump will order troops into a large-scale ground war in Iran and just 7% support that idea, a Reuters/Ipsos poll that closed on Thursday found.

The three-day poll showed Trump's broader standing with the public holding largely unchanged at 40%, up 1 percentage point from a Reuters/Ipsos poll carried out in the hours after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. The poll, which gathered respondents from 1,545 U.S. adults nationwide, had a margin of error of about 3 percentage points.

The Trump administration has mulled deploying thousands of U.S. troops to reinforce its operation in the Middle East, Reuters reported on Wednesday. The possible deployments could use air and naval forces to secure safe passage for oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, or could involve deploying U.S. troops to Iran's shoreline. The Trump administration has also discussed options to send ground forces to Iran's Kharg Island, the hub for 90% of Iran's oil exports, Reuters reported.

Trump on Thursday said he was "not putting troops anywhere," when asked by a reporter about his plans, adding, "If I were, I certainly wouldn't tell you."

More than 2,000 people have been killed across the Middle East since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran nearly three weeks ago and Iran launched strikes in response. The dead include 13 U.S. service members.

Tit-for-tat strikes on energy plants across the Middle East have sent energy prices sharply higher, weighing on stock markets and raising concerns of a resurgence in inflation that has haunted the U.S. economy since the COVID pandemic.

TRUMP HAD CAMPAIGNED ON PROMISE OF AVOIDING CONFLICTS

Trump returned to the White House ‌last year after promising to tame inflation and prevent the military from getting stuck in a foreign conflict and has actively campaigned for the Nobel Peace Prize. But he began this year by launching military strikes on Venezuela -- capturing its leader in a lightning overnight strike.

The Iran conflict has already proved more complex, as Tehran has struck back across the region, disrupting energy supplies that are critical to the global economy.

Some of the most prominent voices within the president's MAGA movement have denounced the war, warning it could hurt Trump's Republicans in November's midterm elections when they will defend their majorities in the U.S. Congress.

Trump's Republicans largely support the war as it has played out so far, with 77% saying they approve of U.S. strikes on Iran, compared with 6% of Democrats and 28% of independents.

Some 37% of Americans overall approve of the war, the poll found. Fifty-nine percent disapprove, including about one in five Republicans.

Some 63% of Republicans - and 34% of Americans overall - said they would support deploying a small number of special forces troops to Iran. Fifty-five percent of respondents in the poll said they opposed deploying any ground troops, whether the scale of operations be large or small.