During his first year back in office, President Donald Trump has bombed the Houthis, bombed Iran, bombed Venezuelan drug boats, enabled Ukraine to strike deep inside Russia, and threatened to send the U.S. military “guns-a-blazing” into Nigeria to protect Christians from Islamist radicals.
This is not what many on the neo-isolationist right had in mind for Trump’s second term. Now, some are grumbling that Trump is spending too much time on foreign policy.
Here’s the good news: Trump‘s MAGA base disagrees. That’s the conclusion of the latest poll from the Ronald Reagan Institute, which finds that self-described MAGA Republicans believe it is extremely important for the United States to lead on the world stage — and they love the way Trump is leading.
Indeed, the poll shows that MAGA Republicans are more hawkish, and less isolationist, than any other group in America — including Democrats, independents and establishment Republicans. Not only do they reject a “Fortress America” approach to foreign policy; they want even bolder U.S. leadership from Trump.
U.S. global leadership
Last year, under President Joe Biden, a narrow 51 percent majority of MAGA voters said it is “better for the United States to be more and engaged and take the lead” on international events. This year, with Trump back as commander in chief, that number skyrocketed to 79 percent. Only 18 percent of MAGA Republicans think the U.S. should be “less engaged” in the world — down from 39 percent in 2024.
That is a 61-point spread in favor of U.S. global leadership. That’s not all. Ninety-two percent of MAGA Republicans say that foreign policy and national defense should be important U.S. priorities — including 59 percent who say they are “extremely important,” more than any other group in the country, including Democrats, independents and non-MAGA Republicans.
Ukraine
Supermajorities of MAGA Republicans back Ukraine, and that support has grown since Trump put Biden’s feckless leadership in the rearview mirror: Sixty-two percent support sending weapons to Ukraine (compared with just 53 percent of non-MAGA Republicans) — a 15-point increase since 2024.
When offered the option of selling American-made weapons to European allies, who would then provide them to Ukraine — the policy Trump has implemented — support among MAGA Republicans for arming Ukraine rises to 78 percent.
Not only do MAGA Republicans want to arm Ukraine; they want to send Kyiv even more lethal weapons. Asked whether they supported “sending long-range cruise missiles, like Tomahawks, to Ukraine, which would give [Ukraine] the ability to strike deep inside Russian territory” — something Trump has said he is considering — 61 percent said they did.
When asked what approach the United States should take to resolving the conflict, 33 percent of MAGA Republicans said the U.S. should support Ukraine’s defense of its full territorial sovereignty. A similar number said they would support a peace deal involving Ukraine conceding territory in exchange for a long-standing ceasefire with security guarantees. About a quarter support a temporary ceasefire along current lines, without formally recognizing Russian control of territory it holds.
MAGA Republicans support Trump’s peace efforts but don’t like or trust Russia: Seventy-four percent see Russia as an enemy, while 73 percent consider Ukraine an ally. And 61 percent don’t trust Russia to abide by the terms of any peace deal.
To ensure Russia does not violate a peace deal, 63 percent said they back “providing Ukraine with a collective defense commitment, which would obligate the U.S. and European allies to respond with military force if Ukraine is attacked again, like the U.S. commitment to NATO members.” And 73 percent support the creation of an “international force to police a demilitarized zone between Ukraine and Russia” that would “consist of European troops on the ground, backed by U.S. air power.”
In other words, the anti-Ukraine right is completely out of step with the MAGA movement. Support for Ukraine among MAGA Republicans has risen with Trump’s election. They want peace, they distrust Russia, and they do not support abandoning Ukraine.
The NATO alliance
Before Trump took office in 2017, NATO was a deadbeat alliance, with only three allies meeting their commitment to spend 2 percent of GDP on defense. Today, thanks to Trump, every ally is on track to fulfill that pledge. And at the NATO summit in the Netherlands this year, Trump got allies to agree to raise their spending to 5 percent.
In the wake of these changes, Trump declared he felt “differently” about NATO. So do MAGA Republicans. Only 32 percent have an unfavorable view of NATO.
Last year, 69 percent supported “responding with military force if a NATO ally in Europe was attacked.” This year, support for defending an ally under attack rose to 76 percent. Just 14 percent of MAGA Republicans would be opposed to doing so. Finnish President Alexander Stubb said Trump had ushered in “the birth of a new NATO.” He’s also ushered in a rebirth of support for the alliance on the MAGA right.
Israel and Iran
In the wake of the controversy over Tucker Carlson’s softball interview of neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes, there has been concern about growing antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment on the right. Well, it turns out that the alt-right is out of touch with the MAGA movement, too. MAGA Republicans are the single most supportive group of Israel in the country: Seventy-nine percent consider Israel an ally, 72 percent support sending U.S. weapons to Israel, and 76 percent back Israel taking further military action against Hamas if the terrorist group does not give up its weapons and demilitarize the Gaza Strip.
MAGA Republicans also overwhelmingly approve of Operation Midnight Hammer, the joint U.S.-Israeli military operation that obliterated the Iranian nuclear program: Eighty-seven percent say they approve of Trump’s decision to launch military strikes against Iran, and 73 percent would back additional U.S. military action to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons (compared with just 61 percent of non-MAGA Republicans).
In other words, the anti-Israel right is loud, obnoxious and utterly isolated.
The Western Hemisphere
Trump has launched the largest deployment of naval assets to the Caribbean since the U.S. invasion of Panama, and has used that firepower to take out more than 20 speedboats and a submarine deemed to be used by narco-terrorists to bring deadly drugs into our country. In taking military action against the cartels, he has the backing of 90 percent of MAGA Republicans.
China and Taiwan
MAGA Republicans are more pro-Taiwan than any group polled: Eighty-three percent believe it is important for the U.S. to defend Taiwan against Chinese aggression. If China took military action against Taiwan, 75 percent would support deploying U.S. military assets into the region; 72 percent would support establishing a no-fly zone that could include “shooting down Chinese warplanes”; 63 percent would support committing U.S. ground forces to defend Taiwan; and 84 percent would support the United States officially recognizing Taiwan as an independent country.
Strong defense
With his One Big Beautiful Bill, Trump added more than $156 billion to the defense budget, including funding for his “Golden Dome” defense shield to protect America from ballistic missile attack. MAGA Republicans overwhelmingly approve.
A 74 percent supermajority say they want the U.S. to have a military large enough to win two wars simultaneously (55 percent indicate large enough to defeat China and Russia at the same time; 19 percent to defeat China and a smaller power like Iran or North Korea at once).
And 89 percent support Trump’s Golden Dome.
That is a pretty robust rejection of isolationism and a powerful endorsement of Trump’s approach on the world stage this year. Indeed, the Reagan poll has consistently shown over several years that MAGA Republicans, like Trump, are not isolationist. And the Reagan Institute is not alone. Other polls, including from the Vandenberg Coalition, have produced similar results.
Bottom line: A MAGA supermajority supports Trumpian U.S. world leadership. And not surprisingly, Trump understands his movement better than those who want to hijack it to pursue a neo-isolationist agenda.
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