Trump calls Strait of Hormuz 'something that we don't need'

A new Ipsos poll found that 43% of Americans disapprove of the U.S. strikes on Iran, while 29% approve of them. Another 26% are unsure.

The polling, which ran from March 6 to 9, found that 64% say that President Donald Trump has not explained the objectives of the war clearly.

As a result of the U.S. military action in Iran, 67% think gas prices will get worse over the next year, including 85% of Democrats, 73% of independents and 44% of Republicans, the polling found. Nearly half of the respondents think the conflict will have a mostly negative impact on their own personal financial situation.

Americans are also more likely to think U.S. military involvement in Iran will go on for an “extended period of time,” 60%, rather than “end pretty quickly in a matter of weeks,” 36%.

Nine Iranian drones were able to make it through air defenses in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, the UAE Ministry of Defense said in a post on X.

Twenty-six drones and eight ballistic missiles were intercepted on Tuesday, according to the ministry.

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Tuesday that while Iran was "adapting" during the conflict, Tehran's military was not “more formidable” than the U.S. had expected.

"I mean, I think they're fighting and I respect that, but I don't think they're more formidable than what we thought," he said.

The U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran are not part of an "endless nation-building" effort, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday.

"This is not 2003. This is not endless nation building under those types of quagmires we saw under Bush or Obama," Hegseth said during a Pentagon press briefing. "It's not even close. Our generation of soldier will not let that happen again."

Hegseth added that President Donald Trump would not allow such open-ended conflict, saying he "very clearly ran against those kinds of never-ending nebulously scoped missions. Those days are dead."