Trump to address nation on Iran as approval ratings hit new lows

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▪ Trump’s approval rating dips amid war

▪ Birthright citizenship case at the court

▪ White House ballroom blocked

▪ DOJ targeting John Brennan

PRESIDENT TRUMP will address the nation this evening on the Iran war as his approval rating has taken a nosedive over the past few weeks amid growing opposition to his handling of the conflict.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump will provide an “important update” to the country at 9 p.m. EDT. She did not provide additional information on what he plans to discuss.

The address will be Trump’s first time directly addressing the country from the White House since the war started more than a month ago and comes as the president appears to be at a decision point in week five of the war.

The president’s prime-time remarks are also taking place on the first night of Passover, a holiday regularly celebrated by his daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner, who are Jewish.

Trump’s approval has been steadily on the decline in the Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ) polling average in the weeks since the U.S. and Israel first launched their joint strikes on Iran on Feb. 28. It fell below 40 percent for the first time during his second term last week and currently stands at a near low of 39.7 percent. 

Meanwhile, his average disapproval rating is hovering near its highest point of his second term, standing at more than 56 percent. 

Trump’s approval rating has consistently been underwater since before last summer, and it’s taken hits in recent months as a rising percentage of Americans have soured on his handling of major issues such as the economy, inflation and immigration. 

But the developments of the past few weeks have seemed to exacerbate the issue for Trump, causing him to reach new lows across multiple pollsters and with key demographics.

His economic approval rating hit a new low in a CNN survey released today, falling to 31 percent. Nearly two-thirds of respondents said Trump’s policies have worsened economic conditions in the U.S.

One of the most eye-catching survey results came earlier this week from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, which found Trump’s approval rating to be 33 percent, the lowest mark ever recorded from either of his terms. The pollsters found 62 percent of respondents disapprove of his job performance, including 53 percent who disapprove strongly. 

Less than 30 percent of respondents said they support Trump’s handling of the Iran offensive, while 62 percent disapprove. 

Two separate polls released last week from Quinnipiac University and AP-NORC Center also placed his approval rating in the 30s, though slightly higher at 38 percent. A Fox News poll found Trump’s disapproval rating to be 59 percent, the highest recorded from his time in office. 

Declining views among independents, particularly over the commander-in-chief’s handling of Iran, have been most responsible for the shift.

Polling from The Economist/YouGov has charted the drop seen among voters who don’t identify with either major party. 

In a poll taken in early March, 30 percent of independents approved of Trump’s handling of the situation. But that fell into the 20s in two additional polls later in the month, and it now stands at 19 percent, according to the most recent poll from The Economist/YouGov released Tuesday. 

Trump’s approval among independents in the DDHQ average reached a new low Monday, dropping below 30 percent for the first time in his second term. 

Gas prices have been top of mind for voters in recent weeks as oil prices have soared amid the Middle East conflict. The average national price of gas surpassed $4 per gallon on Tuesday for the first time since 2022. The rise in prices have paralleled a drop in Trump’s approval on the economy.

A considerable amount of uncertainty remains about the administration’s plans on the war. Trump has repeatedly threatened a significant escalation in targeting Iran’s energy infrastructure and hasn’t ruled out sending troops in for a ground invasion while touting U.S. negotiations with Iran. 

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth followed that approach in a press briefing on Tuesday, saying the U.S. wouldn’t rule out taking any particular course of action. 

“You can’t fight and win a war if you tell your adversary what you are willing to do or what you are not willing to do, to include boots on the ground. The end. Our adversary right now thinks there are 15 different ways we could come at them with boots on the ground. And guess what? There are,” he said. 

Trump also reportedly seems less interested in using ground troops to force Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, as The Wall Street Journal reported he told aides he’s willing to end U.S. operations with the waterway still closed. 

But the administration’s approach and the growing impacts of the conflict seem to only be losing supporters as the war goes on. 

Pollster Nate Silver said Monday that Trump has “profound problems” with his recent approval ratings. He said gas prices are a significant factor, but there are also signs of erosion among his base. 

The Hill’s Emily Brooks reports Trump is particularly starting to lose support among young men, a key part of his 2024 coalition, potentially putting Republicans in danger as the midterms approach.

▪ The Hill: How Trump’s operation to extract Iran’s uranium could unfold.

▪ The Hill: Winds shift in favor of House resolution to end the war.

Smart Take with Blake Burman

NASA is set to launch astronauts around the moon later today in its widely anticipated Artemis II mission. It’s the first crewed lunar flyby in more than 50 years. On Tuesday, former NASA Deputy Administrator Pamela Melroy told me the launch marks a new chapter in space exploration.

“It’s actually starting an effort to build a lunar base, to practice working, living, doing science, and building an economy on another celestial body,” Melroy told me. “Once we nail it on the moon, we’re going to Mars,” she added.

So much of the focus on space in recent years has been on private companies and their feats, but now, NASA is in the spotlight and stepping into a new era of space exploration. Hope you watch the launch with us tonight on the show. We’ll be carrying it live from the Kennedy Space Center.

Burman hosts “The Hill” weeknights, 6p/5c on NewsNation.

3 Things to Know Today

Trump signed an executive order designed to crack down on mail-in voting, directing Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to create a list of verified U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote. It also calls for the U.S. Postal Service to only send ballots to citizens on the state’s approved mail-in list.

Hegseth has lifted a suspension of Army pilots who flew helicopters near singer Kid Rock’s estate in Nashville over the weekend. He said they will not face any disciplinary action.

Multiple airports are asking travelers not to show up four hours ahead of their flights as security lines wane, The Washington Post reported. Officials said passengers arriving too early is creating bottlenecks.

BEFORE TRUMP delivers his address to the nation on Iran tonight, he plans to attend this morning’s arguments over birthright citizenship at the Supreme Court, making him the first president to ever do so.

Trump’s attendance at the arguments, scheduled for 10 a.m., was included on his public schedule and he had earlier told reporters in the Oval Office that he intended to go.

“I’m going,” Trump said. “Because I have listened to this argument for so long.”

The president previously considered attending arguments last year over the constitutionality of his wide-ranging tariffs that he sought to enact, but he ultimately decided against it, saying it would be a distraction.

Trump’s executive order restricting birthright citizenship to citizens and legal permanent residents was one of the first actions he took upon returning to office last year.

The implications of the case could be historic as Trump challenges a long-standing U.S. principle that has been understood for more than a century to mean almost anyone born on U.S. soil is automatically a citizen.

Birthright citizenship was first enshrined in the Constitution in the aftermath of the Civil War through the 14th Amendment, which states that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” 

The phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” is key to the president’s argument, The Hill’s Zach Schonfeld and Ella Lee report. 

The provision has generally been interpreted to only exclude the children of foreign diplomats, foreign enemies in hostile occupation or Native American children subject to tribal laws, but the administration will argue it should also exclude the children of those who entered the country illegally. 

The American Civil Liberties Union will argue Trump’s order is unconstitutional and that the administration’s argument would essentially rewrite the 14th Amendment. 

While the court’s ruling could have wide-ranging legal and practical effects, the justices could also get around ruling on the order’s constitutionality by ruling it violates a law from 1940, Schonfeld notes. 

That law defines U.S. citizenship and uses nearly identical language as the amendment. The challengers to the order argue it violates the law even if it doesn’t violate the Constitution. 

Regardless, this will be one of the most high-profile cases of the court’s current term and Trump’s second term.

▪ The New York Times: How birthright citizenship shaped the justices’ histories.

▪ The Associated Press: How the world sees birthright citizenship.

BALLROOM BLOCKED: A federal judge has blocked construction of Trump’s planned ballroom at the White House just days before it was set to receive a final vote signing off on it.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, ruled Tuesday that no statute “comes close” to granting Trump the authority he has claimed for the project. Leon ruled the administration could not go forward without authorization from Congress.

The Trump administration has appealed Leon’s ruling.

The case stems from a lawsuit filed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation to bring the project to a halt until the White House obtains congressional approval and follows other federal regulations.

Leon said the Constitution establishes Congress as the authority over federal property, spending and the District of Columbia. Without “inherent constitutional authority,” the administration must point to a law granting itself the ability to build the ballroom, but there is no such law, he ruled.

The ruling comes ahead of a planned vote Thursday in which the National Capital Planning Commission is set to potentially give final approval on the ballroom project. The vote had been scheduled weeks earlier but was delayed amid significant criticism of the project from members of the public.

The decision also came as Trump presented revised plans for the ballroom following a New York Times report about architects and preservationists critiquing the original design.

▪ The Hill: Trump vows to fix ‘filthy’ reflecting pool after ruling.

CONVERSION THERAPY BAN RULING: A stricter standard will be required to evaluate the constitutionality of Colorado’s ban on conversion therapy after the Supreme Court ruled against the law Tuesday.

The court, in an 8-1 ruling, decided in favor of a Christian counselor who challenged Colorado’s law banning counselors from attempting to change a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity. The ruling doesn’t strike the law down but sends the case back to lower courts to consider a tougher standard for it.

Justice Neil Gorsuch said in his majority opinion that lower courts used too lenient a standard in upholding the law, finding it regulates counselors’ speech in an attempt to censor a certain viewpoint.

Two of the court’s liberals who sided with the majority, Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, suggested laws that are more narrowly tailored could prevail. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented alone, arguing the ruling opens a “dangerous can of worms.”

▪ The Hill: Judge allows subpoena collecting information on Jewish students, faculty.

▪ The Hill: Jan. 6 rioters accuse police of excessive force.

JOURNALIST KIDNAPPED: Rescue efforts are underway after an American journalist was kidnapped in Baghdad, Iraq.

Shelly Kittleson was identified as the abductee by an American point of contact and her former employer, the Middle East news site AL-Monitor. A U.S. official told the outlet that the State Department is aware of her kidnapping and is working with the Iraqi government to secure her release.

Dylan Johnson, the assistant secretary of State for global public affairs, said in a post on the social platform X that Iraqi authorities have taken into custody an individual with ties to the Iranian-aligned militia Kataib Hezbollah, which is believed to be involved in the kidnapping.

“Iraq remains at a Level 4 Travel Advisory and Americans are advised not to travel to Iraq for any reason and to leave Iraq now,” Johnson said.

Alex Plitsas, a nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council and a former Pentagon official, told The Hill in a text that Kittleson has worked in Iraq for years and also worked in Syria.

“She’s the sweetest person in the world and she doesn’t have a mean bone in her body,” Plitsas said.

THE KING’S VISIT: King Charles III and Queen Camilla will visit the U.S. later this month to celebrate the relationship between the U.S. and the United Kingdom as the country celebrates its 250th birthday this year.

Trump confirmed the visit will take place from April 27 to 30, with a banquet at the White House taking place on April 28. The trip will be Charles’s first state visit to the U.S. as king.

He had visited the U.S. 19 times before being crowned king in 2023. His mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, made four state visits to the U.S. during her rule.

“Their Majesties’ programme will celebrate the historic connections and the modern bilateral relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States, marking the 250th anniversary of American Independence,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement.

▪ Reuters: Visit comes as U.K. seeks to mollify Trump.

The president will participate in executive time at 8 a.m. He will attend oral arguments at the Supreme Court at 10 a.m. He will participate in an Easter lunch at 12:30 p.m. and participate in a policy meeting at 3 p.m. He will deliver an address to the nation at 9 p.m.

The House and Senate are out today.

BRENNAN PROBE: Former CIA Director John Brennan may be the next perceived Trump foe to face charges as the Department of Justice (DOJ) appears to be making a case against him.

The House Intelligence Committee voted last week along party lines to turn two documents from 2017 involving Brennan over the DOJ, including a transcript of a meeting that he had with the committee. That came as House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) called for the DOJ to charge Brennan with lying to Congress.

The Hill’s Rebecca Beitsch reports these are the latest signs that the Southern District of Florida is moving along with an investigation into the 2016 presidential election and cases brought against Trump.

Democrats view it as the latest attempt by the DOJ to pursue political prosecutions against Trump’s adversaries. Most of those investigations and attempts to bring charges have failed.

For example, indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) were dismissed, a grand jury rebuffed efforts to indict a half-dozen Democratic lawmakers, and a subpoena for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell was recently quashed.

But several Trump allies have continued to target Brennan.

▪ ProPublica: DOJ quietly closed 23,000 cases in first six months of Trump’s term.

PUTIN’S ADVANTAGE: Russian President Vladimir Putin has emerged as a winner of the U.S. war against Iran, as Russia benefits from added oil sales and attention has been shifted away from the Ukraine war.

The U.S. has spent the past month prioritizing its offensive against Tehran rather than arming Ukraine, giving Moscow an edge in that conflict.

And the suspension of sanctions against Russia, intended to mitigate the impacts of the Iran war on global markets, has allowed the Kremlin to take in hundreds of millions of dollars more than usual from oil sales, The Hill’s Ellen Mitchell reports.

Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil supply passes, has also placed a premium on Russian oil.

Meanwhile, U.S.-mediated peace talks between Russia and Ukraine appear to have virtually come to a halt as Washington focuses on the war with Iran. The latest round of talks took place in mid-February, nearly two weeks before the Iran war started, during which Russia and Ukraine appeared to be at an impasse in negotiations.

▪ The Hill: Trump piles on pressure on allies over Strait of Hormuz.

▪ NBC News: Ukraine battles brutal Russian offensive.

STEPPING AWAY: Golfer Tiger Woods said he’s taking a break from golf for a period of time following his arrest on suspicion of a DUI after a car crash in Florida.

“I know and understand the seriousness of the situation I find myself in today,” Woods said in a statement posted online. “I am stepping away for a period of time to seek treatment and focus on my health. This is necessary in order for me to prioritize my well-being and work toward lasting recovery.”

“I’m committed to taking the time needed to return to a healthier, stronger, and more focused place, both personally and professionally. I appreciate your understanding and support, and ask for privacy for my family, loved ones and myself at this time,” he said.

Woods pleaded not guilty to the charges he faces of misdemeanor DUI with property damage and refusal to submit to a lawful test, ESPN reports.

This is not the first time Woods has faced charges on suspicion of a DUI or been involved in a car crash.

He was arrested in 2017 on DUI charges after officers found him asleep in his car. He later said he had taken prescription medicine that interacted poorly and pleaded guilty to reckless driving, entering a diversion program and accepting probation.

Woods also suffered significant injuries in a 2021 crash requiring him to undergo surgery.

The Iran war doesn’t have to be a rerun of ‘That ‘70s Show,’ John H. Cochrane writes in The Wall Street Journal.

Trump has a way out of the war, Thomas L. Friedman writes in The New York Times.

And finally … The Artemis II mission is on track for a launch Wednesday after weeks of delays, raising hopes that the U.S. will take another step toward returning to the lunar surface.

The mission is scheduled to take off at 6:24 p.m. ET, the first launch to the moon in more than half a century. The four-member crew will conduct a fly-around of the moon.

They will start by circling the Earth for 25 hours before hurling toward the moon. They will spend 10 days in outer space before returning home.

The launch had been scheduled for February but was delayed by hydrogen fuel leaks and a clogged helium pressurization line. While current weather conditions appear favorable for a launch, NASA will have time to try again if it is called off, as the agency is targeting the first six days of April for liftoff.

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