A majority of American voters say their sympathies lie more with Ukraine than Russia in the war between the two countries. At the same time, nearly half say they think President Donald Trump favors Russia, while most of the remainder believe he favors neither, according to the new national NBC News poll.
Sixty-one percent of registered voters choose Ukraine when asked which of the two countries has their sympathies more, while just 2% say Russia. Another 35% say they are more sympathetic to neither side, while 2% are not sure.
When asked where they believe Trump’s sympathies are, 49% choose Russia, 40% say they think Trump favors neither side, and 8% choose Ukraine. Another 3% say they are not sure.
Trump himself has publicly adopted the idea of not favoring either side, saying in February, “If I didn’t align myself with both of them, you’d never have a deal.”
“I cannot recall a moment in history when American public opinion and voters’ views of a president, as to which country they are more aligned with, have been more in conflict with each other,” said Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt of Hart Research Associates, who conducted the survey along with GOP pollster Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies.
Those whose personal sympathies lie more with Ukraine are more likely to be Democrats (88% of them chose Ukraine), independents (59%) and those with higher levels of education and income. But majorities across a handful of key demographic cross-sections — gender, age and race — all backed Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia in 2022. Hispanic voters are close to evenly divided between Ukraine and “neither side.”
The key split is on political lines, with Republican and conservative-leaning voters more likely to say their sympathies lie with neither nation. Among Republicans, 57% say they favor neither side.
But there are some notable splits within the GOP. For example, 53% of college-educated Republicans say their sympathies lie more with Ukraine, while 62% of Republicans without a college degree say their sympathies lie with neither country.
On the question of how voters view Trump’s positioning on Ukraine and Russia, majorities of Democrats, independents, suburban women, voters of color and voters across all age ranges (except ages 50-64) all believe Trump is more sympathetic to Russia.
Among Republicans, 70% say Trump is not more sympathetic to either nation. Another 14% say Trump is more sympathetic to Russia, and 13% say he’s more sympathetic to Ukraine.
An early flashpoint in Trump’s term
Trump’s handling of the war between Ukraine and Russia has been one of the major storylines of the early months of his second term. During the campaign, Trump repeatedly pledged he would end the war quickly upon taking office, but the situation has proved to be more complicated as efforts to reach a ceasefire continue. And it’s clear America’s posture toward the two sides has changed in the new administration.
While then-President Joe Biden heaped praise on Ukraine for defending itself against Russia’s incursion and repeatedly trumpeted new aid packages to the country, Trump has been more critical toward Ukraine, culminating in a heated confrontation between Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in front of reporters in the Oval Office late last month.
During the discussion, Trump declared that Zelenskyy was “gambling with the lives of millions of people” and had been “disrespectful” to the U.S., while Vance argued the Ukrainian president hadn’t been thankful enough for the help his country received. The episode scuttled plans to sign an agreement on mineral rights in Ukraine, and the Trump administration moved to pause intelligence sharing and aid to Ukraine in the days after the meeting, though both restarted last week after talks in Saudi Arabia.
These developments come amid a broader philosophical shift among Republicans toward Trump’s brand of “America First” foreign policy, while Democrats have pulled in the opposite direction.
In the poll, voters heard two statements and picked which one better represents their thinking: The U.S. “need to focus here at home because America cannot be the world’s policeman trying to solve all the problems and intervening in countries around the world,” or “America has not been strong enough and has allowed Russia and China to extend their influence and power throughout the world?”
In March 2022, Republicans were split: 47% chose focus here at home and 46% said America hasn’t been strong enough on the international stage.
Now, 61% want America to focus here at home while 33% say it hasn’t been strong enough on the world stage. Democrats have moved in the opposite direction, from 49%-40% on focusing at home in 2022 to 57%-37% now that America hasn’t been strong enough internationally.
Overall, 51% of American voters prefer to focus here at home and 43% say that America hasn’t been strong enough on the world stage. That’s similar to three years ago, when 50% said focus at home and 41% said America hasn’t been strong enough on the world stage.
Republicans’ evolution on U.S. foreign policy also includes increasingly negative views of NATO over the last few years. Trump has long criticized NATO countries for not spending enough to defend the alliance and said the U.S. has been unfairly shouldering the load.
In 2022, 39% of Republicans had a positive view of the military alliance among the U.S., Canada and 30 European countries, while 22% had a negative view of it. Now, 19% view NATO positively and 46% view it negatively.
Views on Ukraine, Russia and their leaders
Fifty-five percent of registered voters disapprove of Trump’s handling of the war between Russia and Ukraine, while 42% approve of it.
When asked to evaluate the kind of change Trump is bringing to America’s handling of the war between Russia and Ukraine, 41% of registered voters say Trump is bringing the right kind of change, 34% say he is bringing the wrong kind and 22% say he isn’t bringing any change.
And U.S. voters give Ukraine and Zelenskyy far higher positive marks than Russian President Vladimir Putin and his country. Forty-six percent of voters say they view Zelenskyy favorably and 32% view him negatively, close to the 41% who view Ukraine positively and 28% who view the country negatively.
Just 6% view Russia positively and 68% view it negatively, while 3% view Putin positively and 84% view him negatively.
While Democratic views on Zelenskyy and Ukraine have largely stayed similar since NBC News polling measured them in May 2022, Republicans have less positive views of Zelenskyy and Ukraine than they did previously. Negative views of Russia and Putin have also declined among Republicans, though positive views have not moved appreciably.
A plurality of Republicans, 37%, viewed Ukraine negatively in November 2023, while 27% viewed the country positively. But the nation’s lost support from the party since then, and now 46% view it negatively and 19% view it positively.
“The president is creating an alignment with his own political base,” said McInturff, the Republican pollster.
“You’re watching a shift,” McInturff continued. “He is dragging his own political base in terms of his current rhetoric and position.”
The NBC News poll surveyed 1,000 registered voters from March 7-11 via a mix of telephone interviews and an online survey sent via text message. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
