Iran-US battle newest: Pete Hegseth faces House listening to as Trump points new menace with gun-toting AI picture

President Donald Trump’s approval rating has dipped to a new low as the Iran war drives affordability concerns for Americans.

Just 34 percent of Americans approve of Trump’s job as president, while a whopping 64 percent disapprove, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll found. This is the lowest approval rating of Trump that the polling partnership has found since the president returned to the White House in January 2025.

The majority of responses were taken before the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner Saturday. The suspected gunman, Cole Tomas Allen, has been charged with attempting to assassinate the president.

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The energy crisis triggered by the Iran war could wipe £35bn off the UK economy – even in the best-case scenario, a leading think tank has warned.

But a prolonged conflict in the region could plunge the UK into recession during the second half of this year, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr) said in bleak new projections.

The organisation’s director David Aikman said the forecasts were a “serious blow to the government’s mission to get the UK economy growing again”.

US intelligence agencies are studying how Iran might respond if Trump were to declare unilateral victory and simply back out of the two-month conflict, insiders have said.

Two US officials and a person familiar with the matter said the intelligence community is working to understand the full implications of a quick de-escalation, as Trump’s popularity falls to record lows.

No decision has yet been made, the sources told Reuters. But in the days after the initial bombing campaign, intelligence agencies assessed Iran would see it as a win if Trump declared victory and hastily withdrew, one of the sources said.

A White House official described the domestic pressure on the president to wrap up the war as “enormous”.

The CIA said they were unaware of the reported assessment.

Britain has asked UK refineries to maximise the production of jet fuel supply as it continues to plan for a range of contingencies to increase flexibility on supply, the government said on Wednesday.

The comments, made by energy department minister Michael Shanks in a written ministerial statement, come as airlines are facing a major challenge from rising jet fuel prices due to the war in Iran.

Ryanair’s chief executive has warned that some European airlines could go out of business if spiralling jet fuel prices remain high throughout the summer.

Prices have surged dramatically since the war in Iran began on 28 February after the Strait of Hormuz, which, before the war, carried a fifth of the world’s oil and gas, was blockaded by Tehran, leading to the worst fuel crisis for decades.

The price of a barrel of Brent crude oil to be delivered in June fell 0.5 per cent to $110.71 early on Wednesday, but it remains considerably more expensive than before the war began, when it cost around $70 per barrel. That rise has meant the price of jet fuel has risen nearly 84 per cent since the start of the conflict.

Donald Trump has insisted that the King shares his conviction that Iran must never be permitted to develop nuclear weapons, a claim likely to cause unease within royal circles given the monarch’s constitutional neutrality.

The US President made the remarks during a White House state dinner held in honour of the visiting King and Queen Camilla, following bilateral discussions earlier in the day.

As head of state, the King traditionally remains above party politics, making Mr Trump’s public declaration of his views potentially embarrassing for royal aides.

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Iran’s currency dropped to a record low of 1,810,000 rials to the dollar on Wednesday as the cost of war grips.

The Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA) reported that the rial had fallen, marking a drop of around 15 per cent over the past two days.

The slump appears to have been driven by increased demand for foreign currencies, including the euro and the Emirati dirham.

The United Arab Emirates on Tuesday said it was quitting OPEC, dealing a blow to the oil producers’ group as the energy crisis caused by the Iran war exposes discord among Gulf nations.

The exit of the UAE – one of the group’s biggest producers – weakens OPEC’s control over global oil supplies and widens a rift between the UAE and its neighbour Saudi Arabia, effectively the leader of the cartel.

Brent crude prices fell 0.5 per cent on Wednesday with news of the decision. The UAE will formally exit on 1 May.

The decision represents a win for Donald Trump, who has accused OPEC of “ripping off the rest of the world” by inflating oil prices. He has said that members exploit US military support by imposing high prices.

Analysts said it was also positive for consumers and the broader economy. Monica Malik, chief economist at ADCB, told Reuters: “This opens the door for the UAE to gain global market share when the geopolitical situation normalises.”

Jorge Leon, analyst at Rystad, noted the UAE’s significance as one of the few members of OPEC, apart from Saudi Arabia, with spare production capacity that allows it to add extra oil to the market.

“Outside the group, the UAE would have both the incentive and the ability to increase production, raising broader questions about the sustainability of Saudi Arabia’s role as the market’s central stabiliser,” he said.