An Elon University poll, published April 1, found that 35% of North Carolinians approve of President Donald Trump, while 51% oppose the current U.S. military involvement in Iran.
Director of the Elon Poll Jason Husser said the poll focused on big picture questions related to approval rating of the Trump Administration, the economy and current events like the war in Iran and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Husser said that they did not find broad support for escalation of the conflict in Iran.
“We did not find really any evidence that a substantial number of people wanted to see further escalation, particularly in regards to ground troops being deployed,” Husser said.
Overall, only 16% of people supported ground troops being deployed. 62% were opposed to it. Also, only 27% of Republicans supported ground troops, whereas 61% of Republicans supported the current involvement in Iran.
Husser also said there was a “massive gulf” between Democrats and Republicans on executive authority. 92% of Democrats supported the president getting congressional approval before taking military actions, opposed to only 25% from Republicans. Over 50% of respondents said Trump has “gone too far” in his military actions since taking office.
Congress saw 64% disapproving of the job they are doing, which Husser said is consistent with most polls.
“Local members of Congress oftentimes do better, but Congress as an institution has polled very poorly for decades now,” Husser said. “Nobody's happy with Congress. Republicans aren't happy because legislation isn't getting passed in the way that they might want. Democrats aren't happy because both chambers have majority control by Republicans.”
The poll also found broad disapproval of the economy. More than 50% of North Carolinians said the national economy has gotten worse since Trump took office. Regarding personal finances, 53% said they have experienced a negative impact from tariffs on goods imported from other countries, an increase from a September 2025 poll that saw 46% report negative impacts.
Husser said the views on the economy could have a large impact on the upcoming midterms. The poll found that 65% of independents said the economy has gotten worse since Trump took office, which Husser believes could hurt Republicans come election time. Husser said that when the economy is viewed negatively, the party of the incumbent president does not do well in midterm elections.
Husser said the poll showed extensive voter frustration with the economy and cost-of- living-related issues.
“What we have found consistently so far in the cycle is that issues related to affordability are at the top of voters' minds,” Husser said. “That can range from health care-related issues to issues related to general inflation to other indicators like people seem to be really feeling the pinch of what costs are right now, and they're going to reward or punish politicians associated with that.”
According to Husser, these results aren’t an outlier among the viewpoints of the country as a whole but said that North Carolina tends to be a bit more critical of public officials.
“North Carolinians have very strong opinions right now and very many of them have very ill attitudes towards the way the state of the world is going, and that is translating into attitudes about the incumbent presidential administration as a whole,” Husser said.