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WASHINGTON — <\/span>As the U.S. and Iran head into their next round of nuclear talks in Geneva<\/a>, a new AP-NORC poll finds that many U.S. adults continue to view Iran\u2019s nuclear program as a threat \u2014 but they also don’t have high trust in President Donald Trump’s judgment on the use of military force abroad.<\/p>\n About half of U.S. adults are \u201cextremely\u201d or \u201cvery\u201d concerned that Iran’s nuclear program poses a direct threat to the United States, according to the new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research<\/a>. About 3 in 10 are \u201cmoderately\u201d concerned and only about 2 in 10 are \u201cnot very” concerned or \u201cnot concerned at all.”<\/p>\n The survey was conducted Feb. 19-23, as military tensions built in the Middle East<\/a> between the United States and Iran. The U.S. is seeking a deal to limit Iran\u2019s nuclear program and ensure it does not develop nuclear weapons, while Iran says it is not pursuing weapons and has so far resisted demands that it halt uranium enrichment on its soil or hand over its stockpile of highly enriched uranium.<\/p>\n Trump, who scrapped an earlier nuclear agreement with Iran during his first term, has repeatedly threatened to use force to compel Iran to agree to constrain its atomic program<\/a>, which Trump claimed to have \u201cobliterated” following the 12-day war in June where the U.S. bombed Iranian nuclear sites<\/a>. Iran has said it would respond with an attack of its own. Trump has also threatened Iran over the killing of protesters<\/a>. Both countries have signaled they are prepared for war<\/a> if the talks on Tehran\u2019s nuclear program fail, and the U.S. has assembled its largest military force<\/a> in the Mideast in decades as tensions with Iran have risen.<\/p>\n Most Americans, 61%, say Iran is an \u201cenemy\u201d of the U.S., which is up slightly from a Pearson Institute\/AP-NORC poll<\/a> conducted in September 2023. But their confidence in the president’s judgment when it comes to relationships with adversaries and the use of military force abroad is low, the new poll shows, with only about 3 in 10 Americans saying they have \u201ca great deal\u201d or \u201cquite a bit\u201d trust in Trump. <\/p>\n Even some Republicans \u2014 particularly younger Republicans \u2014 have reservations about Trump’s ability to make the right choices on these high-stakes issues.<\/p>\n The Trump administration this year has held two rounds of nuclear talks with Iran under Omani mediation, with a third round scheduled to begin Thursday. Similar talks last year between the U.S. and Iran about Iran\u2019s nuclear program broke down after Israel launched what became the 12-day war in June.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWe are in negotiations with them,\u201d Trump said during his State of the Union address<\/a> on Tuesday night, which took place after the poll was conducted. \u201cThey want to make a deal, but we haven\u2019t heard those secret words: We will never have a nuclear weapon.\u201d<\/p>\n Americans have significant reservations about Trump’s judgment on foreign conflicts, the AP-NORC poll shows. Only about 3 in 10 of U.S. adults have \u201ca great deal\u201d or \u201cquite a bit\u201d of trust in Trump’s judgment on the use of military force, relationships with U.S. adversaries or the use of nuclear weapons. More than half trust him \u201conly a little\u201d or \u201cnot at all.\u201d<\/p>\n On each measure, Republicans are more likely than Democrats and Independents to trust that the president will make the right decisions. About 6 in 10 Republicans have a high level of trust in Trump, while roughly 9 in 10 Democrats have a low level of trust in him. <\/p>\n But some Republicans’ confidence is more qualified. Younger Republicans \u2014 those under 45 \u2014 are less likely than older Republicans to say they trust Trump \u201ca great deal\u201d or \u201cquite a bit\u201d on his use of military force. About half of younger Republicans say this, compared with about two-thirds of older Republicans. <\/p>\n The new finding that 48% of U.S. adults are \u201cextremely\u201d or \u201cvery\u201d concerned that Iran’s nuclear program poses a direct threat to their country is in line with an AP-NORC poll conducted in July 2025, indicating that even with recent escalations between the two countries, Americans have not changed their views. <\/p>\n Before the June war, Iran had been enriching uranium up to 60% purity,<\/a> a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels. The U.N. nuclear watchdog \u2014 the International Atomic Energy Agency \u2014 had said Iran was the only country in the world to enrich to that level that wasn\u2019t armed with the bomb. <\/p>\n Iran has been refusing requests by the IAEA to inspect the sites bombed in the June war, raising the concerns of nonproliferation experts.<\/p>\n Worries about Iran’s nuclear program cross party lines in the U.S., though Republicans are currently more concerned. Most Republicans \u2014 56% \u2014 say they are \u201cextremely\u201d or \u201cvery\u201d concerned about Iran\u2019s nuclear program, compared with 44% of Democrats.<\/p>\n Americans generally hold a negative view of Iran, but the view is sharper among older Americans.<\/p>\n About 6 in 10 U.S. adults say Iran is an \u201cenemy\u201d of the United States, up slightly from 53% from the Pearson\/AP-NORC poll from 2023. Roughly 3 in 10 say the countries are \u201cnot friendly, but not enemies,\u201d and only about 1 in 10 Americans consider the two nations \u201cfriendly\u201d or \u201cclose allies.\u201d<\/p>\n At the same time, only about half of U.S. adults under 45 say Iran is an enemy, compared with about 7 in 10 Americans ages 45 and older. There is also a wide generational divide in concern about Iran’s nuclear program, with only about one-third of Americans under 45 saying they are highly concerned, compared with about 6 in 10 older Americans.<\/p>\n Tensions over Iran’s nuclear program have existed for decades<\/a>, which may help explain why older Americans are more concerned. Nuclear talks had been deadlocked for years after Trump\u2019s decision in 2018 to unilaterally withdraw the U.S. from Iran\u2019s 2015 nuclear deal<\/a> with world powers.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Liechtenstein reported from Vienna. AP reporter Jon Gambrell in Dubai contributed to this report.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n The AP-NORC poll of 1,133 adults was conducted Feb. 19-23 using a sample drawn from NORC\u2019s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 4.0 percentage points.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n The Associated Press receives support for nuclear security coverage from the Carnegie Corporation of New York<\/a> and Outrider Foundation<\/a>. The AP is solely responsible for all content.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Additional AP coverage of the nuclear landscape: https:\/\/apnews.com\/projects\/the-new-nuclear-landscape\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n