Americans woke up on Saturday to find that joint U.S.-Israeli military strikes had taken place against Iran, with a stated goal from President Trump of toppling the Iranian government and ending its pursuit of nuclear weapons.
By Sunday, it was announced that the operation was successful in killing Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Mr. Trump repeated his call for the Iranian people to take control of the government.
What do Americans think of Mr. Trump’s decision to attack Iran? We asked six voters in Texas for their answer ahead of Tuesday’s primary election.
‘It is necessary to eliminate threats to the United States.’
Nate McHale, 24, College Station
Nate McHale, 24, has voted for President Trump twice, a product of his conservative leanings. He supports the decision to strike Iran.
“I don’t believe we’re going to get into another Iraq-style engagement,” he said. “I don’t believe it’s going to be another 20-year long war” like the U.S. involvement in Afghanistan.
Mr. McHale, a Texas A&M University student, said that some of his relatives and friends from high school and college were deployed to both of those conflicts. But he viewed the U.S.-Israeli strikes as more comparable to the Trump administration’s military action in Venezuela, in which that nation’s former president was captured and removed without many American boots on the ground.
“A nuclear-armed Iran would be a threat not only to the United States but for all countries that they don’t believe should exist,” he said.
— Mariano Castillo
‘I think that a move against Iran is justified, though I believe that we should be more active in helping them to set up a democratic republic, or some sort of democratic government system.’
Craig Wallace, 51, Amarillo
Craig Wallace is not a fan of President Trump’s style, but he supports his policies on the economy and immigration and has voted consistently for him since 2016. He supports the strikes in Iran as well, he said, viewing them as necessary to prevent future conflicts in the region and beyond.
Mr. Wallace’s concern, he said, is less with immediate retaliation from Iran than with the risk of a future attack if Iran gains access to nuclear weapons. “I think his foreign policy makes sense within the world that we live in,” he said.
As with Venezuela, he said, he generally agrees with the impulse to recognize and deal with significant threats early.
“I don’t think you can be isolationist in a world economy,” he said, “but at the same time, I think that he shows restraint.”
— Phoebe Terry
‘It’s another war, and it’s more funding going into the military and you lose funding for education and science, for example.’
Gael Ramirez, 21, San Marcos
Gael Ramirez, a student who describes himself as an independent, voted for President Trump for the first time in the 2024 election, a decision he said was driven more by specific issues than party identity.
He is skeptical that the nation will be helped by the strikes on Iran.
“As a student, the first thing I think about is funding,” he said. “It feels like more money going to the military versus things like education and science.”
He also doubted that foreign conflict would be to his advantage. “I don’t think it would merit a draft,” he said, “but what if it does?”
Asked about reports of efforts to remove or kill Iranian leaders, including senior figures, Mr. Ramirez said he was unfamiliar with the details.
“It’s the first I’m hearing of this,” he said. “It’s a loss of life, so that can either be good or bad depending on the person. But it is tough to tell, and I’m not really sure.”
— Arturo Rubio
‘I think Trump’s final decision to attack is pretty much ‘mess around and find out.’ You’ve been told, here it is, we’re not playing.’
Tex Peterson, 54, Lubbock
Tex Peterson has voted for President Trump in every presidential election. He supports the president’s policies generally, he said, and that goes for the strikes on Iran, too. Standing in his driveway with his child, laughing and chatting, he described himself as a “long term patriot.”
Mr. Peterson said he has long followed the issues surrounding Iran and felt that the U.S.-Israeli military action would prevent Iranians from deploying nuclear weapons. That, he said, would make the world more secure.
Asked about his priorities as a voter, however, he said the economy, not foreign policy, was the most pressing issue.
“Just how we can provide for our family,” he said. “I mean, the middle class has been carrying the weight for way too long, and it’s time that we start getting a return.”
— Lucinda Holt
‘If they attacked us and killed our president, I would be upset and want retaliation.’
Matt Lutz, 64, Bastrop
Matt Lutz is a libertarian and skeptical about foreign conflict. He voted for Gary Johnson, not President Trump, in 2016. But he said he supported the president’s approach to Iran, on balance, because as a military veteran who has served in Afghanistan, he has seen the damage Islamic extremism can do.
“I don’t think we have much business over in the Middle East,” he said. “But then secondly, I think any disruption we put into the Chinese oil pipeline whether it’s Venezuela or there, is probably a good thing.”
He said the 28 years he spent in the Navy had also elevated his concern for what comes after the strikes on Iran and its leaders. “If they attacked us and killed our president, I would be upset and want retaliation,” he said.
— Ramon Ramirez
‘This solidifies President Trump as one of the most consequential presidents of my lifetime.’
Angela Gschwend, 61, Lubbock
Angela Gschwend, a stalwart Trump supporter, said she had been fascinated by Iran since she was a teenager watching the Iranian Revolution unfold on television in 1979.
“When Reagan was inaugurated and they were freed,” Ms. Gschwend said, “that was a huge thing for me. And that’s when I fell in love with world politics and realized that there really is evil in this world.”
She said her Persian friends cried tears of joy upon learning of the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran over the weekend.
“I’m a Christian. I believe in peace and love,” Ms. Gschwend said. “But sometimes you have to fight when you’re attacked. They want to kill because they hate, and that’s the opposite of my worldview.”
That said, her support for President Trump is based more on his policies on the economy and immigration, she said. As the grandchild of immigrants, she said she understood the complexities of border security but did not support lawbreaking.
“I think Republicans are doing what’s best for the people of the United States,” she said.
— Lucinda Holt
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