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Polls ahead of the Trump-Putin meeting on Friday
What do the polls show before the meeting between Trump and Putin? Americans tend to take tougher positions on the Ukraine conflict. How will Trump react? Find out more in our article.
Polls ahead of the Trump-Putin meeting on Friday
All eyes are on President Donald Trump's upcoming, high-stakes meeting with Vladimir Putin. A decision will be made on Friday whether Trump will maintain the hard line he presented last month or return to his previous, lenient stance toward Putin that dominated for many years. But what are the real prospects for a ceasefire or even a peace agreement? These questions currently remain unclear.
The current mood in the USA
What is clear, however, is that Americans are now more aggressive toward the war in Ukraine than they have been for a long time. Trump certainly has a lot of work ahead of him. His latest moves to criticize Putin appear to revive the domestic hawkish element in the conservative movement. The share of Republicans who support arms sales to Ukraine rose to 51% from 30% in March, according to a Chicago Council on Global Affairs poll released Friday. In parallel, support for increased sanctions against Russia rose from 63% in March to 74% today.
Changes in perception
A recent Pew Research Center poll shows that only 30% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents now believe the U.S. is doing “too much” to support Ukraine. This is a significant decrease compared to 47% in February and the lowest level since the war began in 2022. There is also a growing willingness among all Americans to support Ukraine. Just 18% of Americans believe the U.S. is doing “too much,” while the majority of respondents believe the support is “just right” or “not enough.” These values are more in favor of Ukraine than at any time since 2022.
Trump's challenge
A Fox News poll found that 38% of voters think the U.S. should do “more” to help Ukraine. This is the highest value recorded since surveys began in December 2022. While Americans said by a clear majority in October that the US should do less, in July they called for greater support. There was also a drastic change among the Republicans. While the majority believed the US should do less for Ukraine in May and October 2024, this fell to 32% in July.
Trump's reputation under scrutiny
This development presents Trump with a major challenge. His years of soft treatment of Putin have created the impression that he is incapable of being tough on him; At the same time, Americans seem to be demanding a tougher line. According to the Pew poll, about half of Americans believe Trump is too soft on Russia. While that number is down from March levels — perhaps in response to Trump's tougher comments about Putin — there remains a significant number of Americans who believe he is too friendly toward an American opponent.
Public opinion on Trump and Putin
Particularly notable ahead of Friday's meeting is a result from the Fox poll that asked whether respondents think Trump or Putin has the "upper hand" in the Ukraine crisis. 58% of voters believe this is Putin's advantage, even 37% of Republicans agree. This shows that it is very rare that so many Republicans admit that Trump is being effectively outmaneuvered.
Overall, the war in Ukraine is currently one of the most difficult issues for Trump in the polls. The upcoming meeting could be an opportunity to strengthen his position or to clarify the reason for Americans' distrust of his unclear handling of Putin.