Donald Trump gets narrow poll backing for killing of Qassem Soleimani with 43 per cent approving over 38 per cent who disapprove

More Americans back Donald Trump‘s decision to conduct an airstrike that took out Iranian General Qassem Soleimani than those who disapprove, according to a poll released Monday, Daily mail reported.

The Huffington Post/YouGov poll shows 43 per cent of Americans surveyed between January 3-5 approve of the president’s decision to direct the drone strike while 38 per cent are against the move.

Trump directed an airstrike on an airport in Baghdad, Iraq, which took out Soleimani on Friday. The move came after demonstrators who back pro-Iranian Shia militia raided on New Years Eve the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, which has never been breached before.

HuffPost/YouGov conducted a poll of 1,000 American adults in the three days following Soleimani’s death.

Party affiliation also seems to have correlated to the responses, with the majority of Democrats disapproving and majority of Republicans siding with Trump’s move.

Sixty-nine per cent of Democrats said they did not agree with the president’s decision to order the strike against Iran while 86 per cent of Republicans agreed with the attack.

Trump threatened on Saturday that if Tehran decided to retaliate against the U.S., either at home or abroad, he would target 52 Iranian sites in a counter strike.

A majority of Americans – 57 per cent – say they think the strike has escalated tensions and makes further military conflict between Iran and the U.S. more likely. Only 8 per cent say they feel the move will act as a deterrent from further action from Tehran.

Thirty-five per cent of respondents in the weekend poll said they felt Trump prepared carefully for the attack, while 43 per cent said they did not feel as though the president adequately prepared to take action.

Democratic lawmakers have lambasted the president for failing to notify congress before taking action, and several politicians have claimed they don’t think Trump had adequate intelligence to order the drone strike.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced in a ‘dear colleague’ letter released Sunday night that the Democratic-led chamber would introduce a War Powers Resolution this week to limit Trump’s ability to take military action in Iran.

Trump sent an angry tweet Sunday insisting his tweets should serve as informing Congress of action.

‘These Media Posts will serve as notification to the United States Congress that should Iran strike any U.S. person or target, the United States will quickly & fully strike back, & perhaps in a disproportionate manner. Such legal notice is not required, but is given nevertheless!’ Trump tweeted.

When the poll participants were asked if Trump should have sent a preemptive notification to Congress, 44 per cent say he should have gotten authorization from the legislative branch – and 34 per cent say they felt the opposite. DAILY MAIL