AP-NORC poll: 56% of Americans say Trump has gone too far on military intervention

The findings run against Trump’s aggressive foreign-policy posture — which has extended recently to Venezuela, Greenland, and Iran — and signal that public skepticism about U.S. military engagement abroad has grown, including among Republican voters who mostly say he has struck the right balance but show little appetite for more.

WASHINGTON — More than half of U.S. adults believe President Donald Trump has “gone too far” in using the military to intervene in other countries, according to a new AP-NORC poll, with majorities also disapproving of his handling of Venezuela and foreign policy overall.

The poll, conducted Jan. 8–11 by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, found 56% of U.S. adults hold that view. It was fielded days after the U.S. military operation that led to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. About 57% said they disapprove of how Trump is handling Venezuela, and 61% disapprove of his approach to foreign policy — figures roughly in line with his overall job approval, which, according to the poll, has remained largely steady throughout his second term.

Partisan divide is sharp

Democrats and independents drive disapproval of Trump’s military posture. About 9 in 10 Democrats and roughly 6 in 10 independents said Trump has gone too far on military intervention abroad. About 2 in 10 Republicans said the same.

Most Republicans, 71%, said Trump’s actions have been “about right.” Only about 1 in 10 Republicans said they want to see him go further — a finding the AP described as underscoring the risks of continued overseas engagement for a president who ran on an “America First” platform.

Venezuela: drug-trafficking benefits seen, economic benefits divided

Americans see some benefits from U.S. intervention in Venezuela, the poll found. About half said the intervention will be “mostly a good thing” for halting the flow of illegal drugs into the United States. Close to 4 in 10, 44%, said U.S. actions will do more to benefit than harm the Venezuelan people, who lived under Maduro’s rule for more than a decade.

Views on economic and national security consequences were more divided. U.S. adults were split on whether the intervention will prove good or bad for U.S. economic interests or national security, or whether it will have an impact at all.

Republicans were more likely than Democrats or independents to see benefits. About 8 in 10 Republicans said the U.S. intervention will be “mostly a good thing” for stopping drug trafficking; about 6 in 10 Republicans said it will benefit the U.S. economy.

Most Americans want a smaller U.S. global footprint

The poll also found that nearly half of Americans want the U.S. to take a “less active” role in world affairs, while about one-third said the current level is “about right.” Only about 2 in 10 U.S. adults said they want greater global involvement, including about 1 in 10 Republicans.

At least half of Democrats and independents now want the U.S. to do less globally — a shift from a few months prior, according to the AP.

Republicans have moved in the other direction. About 64% of Republicans said the country’s current level of engagement is “about right,” up from 55% in September. About one-quarter of Republicans said the U.S. needs to take a less active role, down from about one-third in the fall.

Methodology

The AP-NORC poll surveyed 1,203 adults Jan. 8–11 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.