Ukraine: Do Americans agree with Trump’s approach? 

Ukraine “should not have started the war”, the US president said on February 18. This statement contradicts the facts: a full-blown war began when Russian troops invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022. But do Americans know about this? A Reuters/Ipsos poll from early March 2025 found that only 7% of Americans agreed with Donald Trump about who started the war. 70% of respondents believe that Russia was to blame for starting the conflict.

The party affiliation of survey participants has little impact on their assessment. Among Republicans, 11% agree with Trump, while 62% blame Russia. Only 2% of Democrats agree with Trump, and 81% of them believe that Moscow is to blame.

Most Americans say Russia is responsible for the war. Still, more and more of them want the war to end quickly, even though Ukraine would not have a strong position in negotiations at the moment. According to the Gallup data, in March 2024, 43% of people favoured a peaceful settlement, and in December, the figure was 50%. The latest Harvard University poll in February 2025 showed that 72% want an agreement between Ukraine and Russia.

However, according to the same survey, many are not satisfied with Trump’s approach to the negotiations: 59% of respondents disapprove of the fact that Ukraine was not invited to the meeting in Saudi Arabia, and 57% are against territorial concessions by Kyiv. 66% think the United States should provide Ukraine with security guarantees if Kyiv makes concessions to Russia to end the war quickly. 63% believe that if Ukrainian territory is ceded to Russia, it will attack other countries. 81% of Americans believe that Vladimir Putin is untrustworthy, according to a Quinnipiac University poll published on February 19.

Chris Jackson, head of public polling at Ipsos, noted in a comment to Reuters that the vast majority of Americans understand that Russia, not Ukraine, initiated the conflict:

“But I do think Americans also do sort of feel that we should get something out of it as well. So I do think this idea of mineral rights and Ukraine is sort of instinctually appealing to a lot of folks, not necessarily knowing a lot of the details of exactly how it would work out”.

What worries Americans the most?

Ukraine is important but not the main issue for Americans. According to Harvard University research conducted in February, it did not even make it into the top 25 priority challenges facing the United States. Inflation and the cost of living, illegal immigration, the economy and jobs, healthcare, and corruption were the most common concerns among this group of respondents.

Domestic politics: Is there support?

The same poll showed that a majority of Americans backed Trump’s key policies to deport undocumented immigrants who committed crimes, fight fraud and abuse in government spending, strengthen border enforcement, ban transgender women from athletic competitions, freeze and review foreign aid, and impose trade tariffs. The only thing that a majority of respondents did not support was changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America (39% in favour, 61% against).

An increase in critical attitudes towards the new administration’s performance is reflected in the results of a more recent Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted in early March 2025. More than 50% of those surveyed are dissatisfied with how Trump handles key issues, including international trade, the cost of living and foreign policy.

“So cost of living inflation, all of these sort of things that go together into just how hard it is to, to earn your living definitely have traditionally had a negative impact on presidential approval. I think Trump is getting a little bit of a pass still because he is still only in his fifth week, I think sixth week, still pretty early in his term. But it is definitely the kind of thing that could really hurt his approval rating if it's sustained”, says Chris Jackson, an expert at the Ipsos Research Centre.

DOGE: A new structure and the controversy around it

The creation of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, is one of Trump’s most controversial innovations. In less than two months it has been in operation, the department has been at the centre of scandals on several occasions. Trump’s political opponents called some aspects of DOGE’s work illegal. Journalists revealed that the amount of money saved by the agency was not what it claimed. Despite this, a Harvard University poll found that 72% of Americans surveyed believe there is a need for a body to look at the efficiency of government spending. 77% support reviewing government spending, and 60% agree that DOGE helps save the government budget. At the same time, 58% oppose Musk’s agency having access to personal data 

“That's really been sort of the trend we've seen with Trump's first five weeks is the broad thrust of what he talks about is popular. But the way they're going about doing it is not necessarily popular. And it's just again, it's a question of which one ends up winning out in the end in the public's mind, the sort of the broad narrative or the specifics of how it's being done. Again, I think that's too early to tell”, Chris Jackson said.

Trump’s rating: stability despite criticism

Despite strong criticism of the new administration from political opponents in the Democratic Party and several European leaders, Trump’s rating remains relatively stable. In 2016, 63 million US citizens voted for him; in 2024, that number increased by 14 million. However, the president’s approval ratings were similar at the start of both his first and second terms, at around 46%. By comparison, former President Joe Biden began his tenure in the White House in 2021 with 56% support. But, by 2024, this had fallen to around 40%. Donald Trump’s support at the end of his first term was even lower – 34%. In the last 50 years, only two presidents have received a lower approval rating: Republican George W. Bush and Democrat James Earl Carter Jr. The record holders for popularity in their final days in the White House were Barack Obama (59%), Ronald Reagan (63%) and Bill Clinton (66%).