President Donald Trump’s deal with Iran hasn’t gotten rave reviews from his biggest supporters.
A new CBS News poll found 56% of self-identified MAGA voters said the US should end the conflict with Iran now, while 44% said the US should continue the war until “Iran gives up more.” For all self-identified Republicans surveyed, 60% believe the conflict should end, and 40% said war should continue to get more Iranian concessions.
What’s more, Republicans aren’t overwhelmingly convinced Trump signed a deal that was beneficial for the US.
A CBS poll found that 47% of MAGA supporters say the agreement is better for the US, while 12% believe it’s better for Iran and 41% say it’s “about equal” for each country. Among all Republicans, only 39% said the deal is better for the US, 19% see it as better for Iran, and 42% see the deal as equal for both the US and Iran.
The official 14-point deal with Iran was released last week just as the poll was conducted from June 17 to June 19. The plan has received rare pushback from GOP politicians, some of whom wanted the US to keep up the military fight and demand a better deal.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said in an X post that “Reagan is rolling over in his grave” over the deal.
“Iran’s nuclear ambitions were not curbed, and they have learned that threatening the Strait of Hormuz works and will undoubtedly leverage it in the future. Now, Iran gets to build brand-new infrastructure under this deal,” Cassidy wrote.
While Cassidy is speaking more freely as a lame duck senator who lost his re-election bid, other figures, like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) — who is a prominent ally of the Trump administration said it is “not remotely in America’s interest” to pay for Iran’s rebuild.
“History teaches that giving billions of dollars to theocratic lunatics who want to murder us is a bad idea,” Cruz said, per the Daily Wire.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) continues to push military intervention should Iran not cooperate. After talking with Trump, Graham said that if the deal fails, “President Trump is gonna take the Strait of Hormuz over by force.”
“We’ll charge a fee for all those who go through to pay for the operation,” Graham said. “If Iran contests control of the Strait of Hormuz by the United States we’ll obliterate them.”
In the deal, Iran can resell its oil without sanctions and have access to $300 billion for the “reconstruction and economic development” — though Trump has insisted US taxpayers won’t be on the hook for that, rather regional investors.
Another controversial aspect of the proposed deal concerns the future of the Strait of Hormuz. In the plan, Iran can work with Oman to “define the future administration” of the Strait. Some worry that this is giving up too much power on what used to be a toll-free waterway.
On Saturday, Trump posted on Truth Social that “there will be NO TOLLS in the Hormuz Strait for 60 days during the Cease Fire Period, and there will be NO TOLLS after the 60 day period has expired, unless they are imposed by and for the United States of America.”
However, after last week’s ceasefire memorandum — where the Strait was supposed to reopen for the 60-day period without charging vessels — Iran’s joint military command claimed it closed the Strait, citing a “clear breach” of commitments. The US, however, said the Strait is open, and shipping trackers show increased traffic.
Higher gas prices in the US — right before the midterm elections — have motivated Republicans to want an end to the war.
The poll shows that 42% of all Americans — regardless of party affiliation — expect gas prices to go down, 35% expect prices to stay stagnant and 23% expect gas to go up.
The MOU kicked off 60 days of talks between the US and Iran to sort through the thorniest issues, such as dismantling Iran’s nuclear program.
After a first round of talks in Switzerland, Vice President JD Vance said Iran agreed to allow International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors back into the country to oversee key aspects of their nuclear program. He said the US and Iran have approved a roadmap to guide talks for the next 60 days.
When it comes to why the deal was agreed upon, 66% of Americans polled in the CBS survey believe the Trump administration reached an agreement because it wants the conflict to be over, while only 34% believe that it thinks the US has met its goals.
Only 36% of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of Iran, while 64% disapprove.
The CBS poll was conducted June 17-19, 2026, following the release of the MOU. The CBS/YouGov survey interviewed 2,519 US adults. The margin of error plus or minus 2.4 percentage points.
