What do Americans make of US military operations abroad? Poll shows a shift

A growing share of Americans have a negative view of U.S. military operations abroad, according to a new YouGov poll. A strong majority also oppose the U.S. invading Venezuela to topple President Nicolás Maduro.

The poll — conducted Sept. 5-8 with 1,114 U.S. adults — comes as tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela have risen in recent weeks.

On Sept. 2, Trump ordered a military strike on a vessel in the Caribbean, saying it carried narcotics bound for the U.S. and was run by “Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists…under the control of Nicolás Maduro.” He announced a second strike on Sept. 15, following the deployment of naval assets to the region.

In response, Venezuelan officials moved to increase their own military presence along the coast to stave off drug trafficking, according to Reuters.

U.S.-Venezuela relations have long been tense, with Washington maintaining sanctions on the country for years and accusing the Maduro government of human rights abuses.

Growing opposition to overseas operations

In the poll, 36% of respondents said U.S. military interventions abroad “worsen situations in the countries where they occur.” By comparison, this figure stood at 28% in 2023.

Meanwhile, 20% said U.S. military operations overseas improve situations — down from 24% two years ago.

Twenty-four percent said they neither improve nor worsen situations, and 20% said they were not sure, according to the poll, which has a margin of error of about 4 percentage points.

The biggest shift in opinion came among Democrats, 43% of whom believe American military operations worsen situations in nations where they occur. This is an increase of 18 percentage points from 25% in 2023.

Among independents, 38% said U.S. military operations worsen situations, up from 31% two years ago. Republicans, in contrast, largely held constant, with 26% saying foreign interventions worsen situations, down from 28% in 2023.

Opposition to invading Venezuela

A strong majority of respondents, 62%, said they would oppose the U.S. invading Venezuela, while just 16% said they would support it and 22% said they were not sure.

Opposition was the strongest among Democrats (74%) and independents (63%) and the weakest among Republicans (48%).

A smaller majority, 53%, also said they are against using military force to topple Maduro, while just 18% said they would support this.

Here, again, Democrats were the most opposed (67%) compared with independents (52%) and Republicans (38%).

In contrast, public opinion was more divided when it came to Trump’s decision to deploy ships around Venezuela.

Thirty-eight percent said they opposed this move, while 36% said they supported it. Most Democrats (62%) opposed it, while most Republicans (68%) were in favor.