WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 12, 2025) – Cygnal, one of the nation’s fastest growing and most accurate private polling firms, released the following National Voter Trends (NVT) poll (conducted Mar. 3-5) of 1,500 likely 2026 general election voters.
“President Trump is firing on all cylinders as he continues to fulfill his promises at home with decisive action on border security, he’s also making good on his promises to reassert America’s role on the international stage,” said Pollster and Director of Political Strategy, Mitch Brown. “Voters have an overwhelmingly favorable view of their country while also believing things are getting worse abroad. But they trust Trump on key areas like negotiating with Putin to end the war in Ukraine and getting tough on Iran and its proxies – not to mention countering China in economic power and military influence. Like many challenges on the home front, voters also understand international issues take time to resolve and that’s why, with just a few months into his second presidency, this new data shows Trump has plenty of room to chip away at these international conflicts and keep America first.”
“Throughout the 2024 election we identified and tracked a new demographic we coined as the ‘ticked-off, young, diverse, working-class’ voter,” said Pollster and Cygnal President, Brent Buchanan. “This group was crucial to Trump’s success and our latest data confirms they remain hopeful about the direction of our country with Trump at the helm. Sixty percent approve of Trump’s job so far and they’re more favorable than other groups toward Elon Musk’s efforts at DOGE. All of this signals that Americans are willing to look at the upsides of the change brought by Trump, rather than lament the rudderless Biden era.”
Here are Brown’s top takeaways:
Top Priorities: ‘Threats to democracy’ rose five points to an all-time high (22%) while concerns about inflation and the economy ticked up by two points remaining the number one priority. Trump’s massive action to curtail illegal border crossings by over 90 percent and deploy more resources has resulted in a three-point drop among Americans’ top issues.
Sentiments at Home vs. Abroad: for the second straight month since we’ve been running this NVT poll, optimism about the direction of the country (45%) is at its highest level. Additionally, 42 percent believe things are getting better in America. Looking abroad, just 27 percent think things on the world stage are getting better while 64 percent say things are getting worse.
America’s Role: Less than half of Americans (43%) say America should play a leading role in promoting democracy worldwide while 38 percent say our role should be more supportive and 12 percent said we should be neutral.
Negotiate with Putin? 48 percent support President Trump engaging in direct negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin to seek a resolution to the ongoing war with Ukraine. Sixty-nine percent of Democrats oppose this approach. Seventy-nine percent of Americans have an unfavorable view of Russia.
Yay or NATO? Sentiment towards NATO has taken a hit over the past three years with only (55%) of Americans have a favorable opinion of NATO while 28 percent have an unfavorable opinion, largely driven by non-college men (41%) and Republicans (46%). Democrats (72%), Independents (61%), and college-educated (66%) have the most favorable opinions of NATO.
United Nations Funding: views among Americans are mixed (43% support; 44% oppose) regarding President Trump’s executive order to withdraw funding for certain U.N. programs citing contradictions with American interests and value.
Who’s the Superpower? 66 percent say the United States is the world’s leading superpower while 21 percent say China is the leader. Over a third (31%) of Black Americans say China is the leader over the U.S. Overall, Americans have an unfavorable opinion of China (75%) while only 13 percent have a favorable view. Every demo, except Blacks (45%), had a 50+ percent negative view of China.
Most Disliked: three quarters (75%) of Americans of have an unfavorable opinion of Iran, including voters who switched to Trump (57%) in 2024 from Biden in 2020. Eighteen percent have no opinion of Iran and only seven percent have a favorable opinion.
Quick Hits:
- USA Image (71% favorable; 26% unfavorable)
- Trump Image (47% favorable; 52% unfavorable)
- Biden Image (40% favorable; 55% unfavorable)
- Elon Musk Image (42% favorable; 53% unfavorable)
- Congressional Republicans (44% favorable; 52% unfavorable)
- Congressional Democrats (40% favorable; 54% unfavorable)