CNN Poll: Most Americans disapprove of Trump’s approach to Ukraine war, doubt it will yield peace
CNN
Americans are skeptical that President Donald Trump’s approach to the war between Russia and Ukraine will bring peace to the region, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS.
Americans are skeptical that President Donald Trump’s approach to the war between Russia and Ukraine will bring peace to the region, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS. Most Americans view Trump’s handling of the conflict negatively, and 50% say his approach to the war is bad for the United States. US diplomats are currently working to persuade Russia to agree to a temporary ceasefire in the war that has dragged on for more than three years since Russia’s invasion. While the Biden administration strongly backed Ukraine and unambiguously blamed Russia for the conflict, Trump has blamed Ukraine for causing the war and called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a dictator, drawing complaints from European allies and domestic critics. CNN’s latest poll finds that 59% of Americans think it’s not too likely or not at all likely that Trump’s approach will bring long-term peace between Russia and Ukraine, while 41% say it’s at least somewhat likely. More broadly, nearly 6 in 10 Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the US relationship with Russia (59%), and 55% disapprove of his handling of the situation in Ukraine. Half of Americans think that Trump’s approach to the war between Russia and Ukraine is bad for the US, compared to only 29% who think it’s good for the US (20% say it does not make a difference). This mirrors Americans’ broader views of Trump’s foreign policy moves so far in his second term: while 30% say his decisions have helped America’s standing in the world, more than half (54%) say that they’ve hurt America’s standing. A sizable share of Republicans express doubts about Trump’s approach to foreign policy, including 15% who see his foreign policy decisions as having hurt America’s standing in the world, 18% who say his approach to the war between Russia and Ukraine is bad for the US and 28% who believe his approach is unlikely to result in long-term peace between the two countries. Democrats are more unified around negative views of Trump’s foreign policy choices. A broad majority of Americans view Ukraine as either an ally or friendly to the US (72%) and Russia as either unfriendly or an enemy to the US (81%). The share that considers Ukraine to be an ally has climbed 7 points since 2014, just after Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Negative views of Russia have also changed since then, with the share describing Russia as an enemy climbing from 25% in May 2014 to 41% by 2018 and 44% now.
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