Ahead of tomorrow’s summit between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, a new Pew Research Center poll finds Americans closely divided on whether the US has a responsibility to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia.
Democrats remain significantly more likely than Republicans to see a role for the US in the conflict, but GOP backing for US involvement has risen since spring.
Half of the American public says the US has a responsibility to help Ukraine, and 47% say it doesn’t. The share of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who say such a responsibility exists stands at 35% — a 12-point rebound since March, although still significantly below the 66% of Democrats and Democratic-leaners who say the same.
Overall, 40% of respondents said they’re very or somewhat confident in Trump to make wise decisions when it comes to Russia’s war in Ukraine, with 59% saying they’re not too confident or not at all confident in his decision-making.
About a third say Trump is favoring Russia too much in the war, with 6% saying he’s favoring Ukraine too much, 28% that he’s striking the right balance, and the rest unsure.
The Pew Research Center survey was conducted August 4-10 and surveyed 3,554 US adults using a nationally representative online panel. Results among the full sample have a margin of error of +/- 1.8% pts.
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