This is The Poynter Report, your daily guide to the news about news. Subscribe to get it in your inbox every weekday.

The United States’ attack on Iran is not going over well with the majority of Americans. That’s according to a poll conducted almost immediately after the U.S. and Israel launched the attack this past weekend.

A CNN poll shows 59% of Americans disapprove of the attack. The poll also found that 60% of Americans don’t believe President Donald Trump has “a clear plan for handling the situation” and 62% said Trump “should get congressional approval for any further military action.”

Plenty of other survey numbers show Americans’ lack of trust and approval when it comes to the war in Iran.

Only 27% think Trump made “enough of an effort at diplomacy before launching the attack.” And 59% say they don’t trust Trump to make the right decisions on the use of force in Iran.

Of course, when the survey is broken down by party affiliation, Trump has way more support among Republicans — 77% of Republicans approve. That number is a bit surprising considering many supported Trump during the campaign because he said he was a candidate of peace.

During his election night speech in 2024, Trump said, “I’m not going to start a war. I’m going to stop wars.” Back in 2023, The Wall Street Journal gave space to JD Vance, Trump’s future running mate, to write an op-ed with this headline: “Trump’s Best Foreign Policy? Not Starting Any Wars.” Vance wrote, “For many, statesmanship means having a polite social-media presence and throwing out slogans about ‘freedom’ and ‘democracy’ while starting world-historic catastrophes in the Middle East. I prefer a different kind of statesmanship: one that stands athwart the crowd, reminding leaders in both parties that the U.S. national interest must be pursued ruthlessly but also carefully, with strong words but great restraint.”

“And yet in his first year back in office,” Mohamad Bazzi — director of the Center for Near Eastern Studies, and a journalism professor at New York University — wrote in The Guardian, “Trump bombed seven countries: Yemen, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia and Venezuela. Early on Saturday, Trump launched his most extensive, and dangerous, military campaign so far: a war against Iran, which could spiral into a regional conflagration, especially as the Iranian regime sees this joint US-Israeli attack as a fight for its survival.”

Bazzi added, “Over the past six weeks, as Trump ordered the largest US military build-up in the Middle East since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, he made virtually no effort to explain to the American people or to Congress whether Iran poses a threat to US interests that would justify the risks of an open-ended war. Trump also largely ignored recent opinion polls which found that 70% of Americans oppose military action in Iran, including segments of his own Maga movement, who latched onto his repeated promises to end America’s legacy of forever wars.”

Those numbers coincided with CNN’s latest poll. And a poll released Sunday from Reuters/Ipsos found that only about a quarter of Americans approve of Trump’s strikes on Iran.

Meanwhile, The Washington Post texted 1,000 Americans to get their thoughts on the attack. The results: 45% opposed, 39% supported and 17% were unsure. In addition, 47% said the U.S. should stop military strikes, compared to 25% who said they should continue.

One can understand the uncertainty many have about what comes next.

The Washington Post’s Greg Miller and Karen DeYoung wrote, “Trump’s inclination to bomb first and then wash his hands of whatever comes next in Iran has alarmed U.S. allies. Security officials in the Middle East and in Europe have raised concerns that the U.S. is unleashing forces that could spill across borders, disrupt global trade and lead to asymmetric terrorist attack reprisals — all with no certainty that the remaining Islamic hard-liners won’t ultimately retain their hold on power.”

Speaking of Trump

The New York Times ran interesting side-by-side videos on its homepage on Monday. As I just referenced above, there was a clip of Trump saying, “I’m not going to start a war. I’m going to stop wars.” Again, that was in 2024.

Next to that was a 2026 clip of Trump saying, “Bombs will be dropping everywhere. When we are finished, take over your government.”

Then, the Times’ Peter Baker explained how Trump once described regime change as a “proven, absolute failure” and is now pursuing the thing he has previously scorned.

So what changed? After all, this was a guy who once said Barack Obama would start a war with Iran because he had no ability to negotiate.

Well, Baker explained, a big turning point was in 2020 when Trump ordered a strike that killed Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the head of Quds Force in Iran. Trump was warned of massive retaliation from Iran, or that it could provoke a regional war. Instead, Iran’s response was modest, which might have empowered Trump.

Now, Baker said, Trump is surrounded by the likes of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller, who are encouraging him to be more aggressive about remapping the world.

It was Rubio who told reporters on Monday that “the hardest hits are yet to come from the U.S. military.” Trump said Monday that the strikes could carry on for four to five weeks, but the U.S. has “the capability to go far longer than that.”

Of course, the question is what happens after all that?

As Baker said, “It’s easy to topple a regime. It’s a lot harder to replace it with something that’s effective.”

In addition, be sure to check out this story in The Atlantic from Toluse Olorunnipa, Jonathan Lemire, and Ashley Parker: “From ‘America First’ to ‘Always America Last.’”

Covering Iran

“CBS Evening News” anchor Tony Dokoupil. (Courtesy: CBS News)

As I mentioned in Monday’s newsletter, coverage of what’s going on has not and will not be easy.

Natalie Korach wrote in the Status media newsletter, “Major television news networks and newspapers tasked with covering the war are having to piece together events from government statements, grainy videos circulating online, and reports from Iranian state media. In an era where many news organizations have been forced to scale back foreign bureaus and reporting resources—most notably the recent and devastating cuts at The Washington Post—the conflict is quickly becoming a test for media, exacerbated by the fact that Iran remains one of the most difficult places on earth for journalists to operate safely.”

As far as the evening news is concerned, CBS News sent Tony Dokoupil to the Middle East to anchor the “CBS Evening News.” He anchored from Amman, Jordan, on Monday night and is expected to be in Tel Aviv, Israel, tonight.

For now, ABC’s “World News Tonight” anchor David Muir and “NBC Nightly News” anchor Tom Llamas are anchoring from New York.

Because gaining access to what’s going on inside Iran is pretty much impossible for the evening news anchors, you can understand why Muir and Llamas are remaining in New York for now. You could also make the case that if you cannot report from inside Iran, the biggest part of this story for now, at least from an American perspective, is what’s going on inside the White House.

Dokoupil, on the other hand, is still relatively new and trying to establish himself after a shaky start to his evening news anchoring job. So even if the background is near Iran, and not in Iran itself, CBS might think it would be good if he were there.

Networks usually see a great benefit in having an anchor report from the scene — whether it’s a severe weather event, a political convention, or, unfortunately, something awful like a mass shooting or a war.

For example, back in 2023, Dokoupil, who was the co-anchor of CBS’s morning show, traveled to Hawaii to cover the devastating wildfires there. At the time, he told me, “Some stories are too big to pass through the lens of a camera or words on a screen, and disasters like this are often that kind of story. You have to see it with your own eyes and then share it with your own voice. It’s journalism as old as the human voice and as natural as one person telling another what they saw just over the hill.”

In this particular case, however, there seems to be no wrong decision in sending or not sending an anchor to the Middle East. At least for the moment.

Notable and interesting journalism regarding the Iran story

• The New York Times’ Mark Mazzetti, Julian E. Barnes, Tyler Pager, Edward Wong, Eric Schmitt and Ronen Bergman with “How Trump Decided to Go to War.” - Axios’ Avery Lotz with “Trump delivers Iran messaging through exclusive interview spree.” - Here’s an excellent breakdown from Amber Phillips’ “5-Minute Fix” newsletter: “Four things to know about Trump’s war with Iran.” - Politico’s Eli Stokols and Sophia Cai with “Iran is not Venezuela as much as Trump wants it to be.” - CNN’s Aaron Blake with “The Trump team’s shifting story on war with Iran.” - W.J. Hennigan, who writes about national security for opinion for The New York Times, lays into Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in “Nothing to See Here, Folks.”Hennigan opens with this sharp line: “For a guy who calls himself the secretary of war, Pete Hegseth sure is defensive.”

Trump’s surprising decision

Trump announced Monday that, for the first time as president, he will attend the upcoming White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. Not one for self-deprecation or taking a joke too well, Trump has always boycotted the event, known for the comedian-host poking fun at everyone, most notably whoever is president.

But on Monday, Trump wrote on his Truth Social:

The White House Correspondents Association has asked me, very nicely, to be the Honoree at this year’s Dinner, a long and storied tradition since it began in 1924, under then President Calvin Coolidge. In honor of our Nation’s 250th Birthday, and the fact that these “Correspondents” now admit that I am truly one of the Greatest Presidents in the History of our Country, the G.O.A.T., according to many, it will be my Honor to accept their invitation, and work to make it the GREATEST, HOTTEST, and MOST SPECTACULAR DINNER, OF ANY KIND, EVER! Because the Press was extraordinarily bad to me, FAKE NEWS ALL, right from the beginning of my First Term, I boycotted the event, and never went as Honoree. However, I look forward to being with everyone this year. Hopefully, it will be something very Special. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP.

Trump did attend the event once before, back in 2015, before he became president for the first time.

This year’s dinner is scheduled for April 25.

Perhaps part of the reason Trump has agreed to go is that this year’s featured entertainer is mentalist Oz Pearlman, whose act wouldn’t make fun of the president.

Media tidbits

• Catching up on this story from the weekend. The Wall Street Journal’s Dan Gallagher with “All the Ways Netflix Actually Won Even Though It Lost Warner.” - Mike Abrams, The New York Times deputy editor for trust, with “Reporters Seek Comment. What Happens Next May Surprise You.” - The New York Times’ Katie Robertson returns to her native Australia to write about a legendary anchor team in Perth: “40 Years and 10,000 Broadcasts In, They’re Still Live on Air.” - ESPN reached a multiyear contract extension with Major League Baseball insider Jeff Passan. In addition to continuing appearances on ESPN shows such as “The Pat McAfee Show,” “SportsCenter,” “Get Up,” and “Baseball Tonight,” Passan, under the new deal, will begin hosting his own ESPN baseball podcast in conjunction with Omaha Productions — the production company founded by former NFL great Peyton Manning.

Hot type

• The New York Times’ Sheera Frenkel and Cade Metz with “The Pentagon’s Favorite Tech Guy Is This Hawaiian Shirt-Wearing Founder.”

More resources for journalists

• Great Lakes journalists: Work on coverage strategies, gain reporting tools and spark regional connections in our free election coverage workshops. Apply now. - Get the tools, mentorship and peer community to turn your non-fiction book idea into a publishable proposal. Apply for our workshop today. - New editors: Get guidance from industry veterans and build the skills you need to become indispensable to your newsroom. Apply now. - Audit your crime coverage, implement a sustainable newsroom policy and learn to do more meaningful work with fewer resources. Limited time left to apply.

Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at [email protected].

The Poynter Report is your daily dive into the world of media, packed with the latest news and insights. Get it delivered to your inbox Monday through Friday by signing up here. And don’t forget to tune into our biweekly podcast for even more.