Trump's war in Iran polls badly, but will it hurt Republicans in 2026?

Trump's war is polling badly and has increased gas prices, but supporters say public opinion will shift.

Despite voting for President Donald Trump three times, Republican Amanda Cline isn't buying his administration's evolving and conflicting rationale for launching a war with Iran.

The retired 47-year-old Navy veteran thinks it's the wrong move, especially when she learned U.S. soldiers were killed so early in the conflict.

"I don't think it's worth it," Cline, who hails from Cherry Valley, California, told USA TODAY. "It's not our cause. It's their fight to fight. It's their regime and their problem to fix."

Cline recalls being deployed overseas in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. She said she watched intently when Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth told reporters at a March 2 press conference that this conflict would not morph into nation-building effort, but that it reminded her how the Bush administration's promises never materialized.

"It's kind of insulting the intelligence of the American people to just have generals get up there and Hegseth get up there and just say, 'go military, go troops and wave your American flag and just support us no matter what,'" said Cline, who also has worked at an anti-abortion pregnancy center.