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Trump has abandoned his Iran war maximalist demands as polls drop and peace talks remain deadlocked<\/p>\n
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Trump has abandoned his Iran war maximalist demands as polls drop and peace talks remain deadlocked, with analysts and the president\u2019s own conduct making clear that the goals he set when launching strikes on Iran in late February are no longer the terms being discussed. <\/p>\n
CNN\u2019s analysis found<\/a> that Trump\u2019s early demand for Iran\u2019s \u201cunconditional surrender,\u201d posted on social media one week into the war, has been quietly set aside as the administration pursues a negotiated settlement through Pakistani intermediaries.<\/p>\n Regime change was also an early stated objective. On the night the war launched, Trump told the Iranian people to \u201ctake over your government\u201d and declared: \u201cWhen we\u2019re finished, it\u2019ll be yours to take.\u201d There is no indication that outcome remains part of the current negotiations. <\/p>\n When Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was pressed at a Pentagon briefing on what happened to that pledge, he suggested Iranians could still take the opportunity themselves \u201cat some later date.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Trump\u2019s approval rating on the Iran war has slid from 39% in early March to 30% in the latest YouGov\/Economist survey, according to The Hill. A Pew Research Center survey conducted April 20-26 among 5,103 adults found<\/a> that 62% of Americans disapprove of his handling of the conflict and 59% say the US made the wrong decision by using military force. Those numbers have held virtually unchanged since March.<\/p>\nPolls and political cost<\/h2>\n