The President did not receive a rally around the flag effect following the start of the war.
Posted by Deadline: White House, Checked
- Sources
- 4 support1 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 90%
Deadline: White HouseSep 7, 2026
Multiple sources, including a primary UMD polling review and a NYT analysis, report that President Trump did not get a rally-around-the-flag bump after the Iran war began in early 2026. The claim is a faithful extraction of the passage, and no source contradicts it.
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What was said
… The United States has never embarked on a war that was unpopular to begin with and then stayed unpopular. I mean, it's remarkable that nobody wanted this, President Pete Hegeseth accepted, nobody really supports it, and there was no rally around the flag effect for the President. I mean, every President gets a little bit of a bump, a little bit of the benefit of the doubt, but this was so obviously a war of choice, so obviously a war launched without any real pretext, that it was unpopular, and it's remained unpopular. …
Deadline: White House · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. A UMD review of US polling on the Iran war (March-April 2026) finds no rally-round-the-flag effect reaching majority levels, with initial support declining after the first week.[1]
Supports. The New York Times (March 28, 2026) reports that there 'certainly isn't the usual rally around the flag effect' for Trump, with his approval falling to 40 percent during the early stages of the war.[2]
Supports. A May 2026 Hawaii Tribune-Herald piece citing a Eurasia Group poll says a rally round the flag effect 'seems to be largely absent' for the Iran war, with a majority disapproving of Trump's handling.[3]
Supports. G. Elliott Morris's March 2026 analysis argues the Iran strikes look like the latest case of a non-bump in presidential approval.[4]
Context. NPR (October 2026) describes the war as unpopular, consistent with the absence of a rally effect, though it does not directly address the initial bump.[5]
Sources
5 sources: 1 primary, 2 tier 2, 2 not rated
- 1War with No Rally - spp.umd.eduspp.umd.edu · primary source · cited for: supports
- 2Is Iran a Political Problem for Trump? Tell Me How Long ...nytimes.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports
- 3The myth of rally round the flag | Hawaii Tribune-Heraldhawaiitribune-herald.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 4I graphed every president's approval rating during "rally around the ...gelliottmorris.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 5Trump's War in Iran in spotlight ahead of midtermsnpr.org · tier 2 · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post