A new poll shows a plurality of voters across nearly all demographics disagreeing with the Trump administration’s foreign policy strategy against Venezuela, as a majority of respondents said they want Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to resign.
In September the United States military began airstrikes on alleged drug-carrying boats traversing the Caribbean Sea, branded by the Trump administration as traffickers who are bringing narcotics to the U.S. Speculation has persisted regarding whether the U.S. plans to militarily infiltrate Venezuela to remove President Nicolás Maduro and/or seize oil. Trump himself has alluded multiple times to a potential land war.
At least 90 people have been killed in more than 20 vessel strikes, including three strikes announced Monday that led to eight deaths.
“On Dec. 15, at the direction of @SecWar Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted lethal kinetic strikes on three vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters,” U.S. Southern Command wrote on X. “Intelligence confirmed that the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and were engaged in narco-trafficking.”
The legality of the ongoing strikes has become a major issue in Washington and beyond, with hearings continuing Tuesday involving Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other officials briefing U.S. House and Senate members on Capitol Hill.
Independents Sour on Hegseth, Boat Strikes
From Dec. 5-9 Data for Progress surveyed 1,165 U.S. likely voters about the ongoings in the Caribbean and whether military involvement overseas should be a bigger priority for the Trump administration than domestic issues.
Results mostly fell along partisan lines, though those who consider themselves independent or third-party aligned expressed discontent and aligned more with liberals/Democrats. The poll from the progressive think tank included responses from 454 Republicans, 448 Democrats and 263 independents.
When asked whether they have a favorable or unfavorable view of Hegseth, 40% responded that they view him unfavorably (9% "somewhat" unfavorable and 39% "very" unfavorable). That included 66% of Democratic respondents and 44% of independents, but just 16% of Republicans.
About 31% of respondents expressed a net favorable opinion of Hegseth, including 58% of Republicans and 25% of independents. Another 29% overall said they “haven’t heard enough to say” their opinion on Hegseth.
Across all demographics except Republican-identified voters, Hegseth received a net unfavorable opinion from respondents.
Ryan O'Donnell, executive director at Data for Progress, told Military.com that the results show some cracks in U.S. citizens’ support for the current foreign policy outfit. Another 1-in-4 Republicans also don't trust the current administration to make decisions about the use of military force in Venezuela.
"It's not a good sign for Pete Hegseth that a plurality of voters, including 41% of independents, think he should resign without being provided with any context,” O’Donnell said. "An overwhelming majority of voters (86%) say it is important that the U.S. government demonstrates that any actions taken in international waters comply with international law and treaty agreements.”
"Trump campaigned on ending wars, but his ongoing threats of escalation with Venezuela directly contradict that promise."
But when it comes to resignation, respondents expressed more hesitance. While there was a net 14% of support across all demographics except Republicans for Hegseth to resign, a net 20% said they weren’t sure.
Actions overseas have definitely drawn Americans’ attention, per the poll, with 40% of all respondents hearing “a lot” about it and 37% hearing “a little.” Just 23% reported hearing nothing at all about the continuous military action.
The poll of likely voters, conducted in English, sampled respondents across the age, gender, education, race, geography and political spectrum. The margin of error is +/- 3 percentage points.
Americans' Priorities
There was also a 2-1 split among respondents when asked whether the United States should be more or less involved in trying to resolve foreign conflicts, with 62% saying the U.S. should be less involved and 32% saying the opposite.
That was even true among Republican respondents by a narrow margin, with 50% wanting less involvement and 43% wanting more.
"Trump campaigned on ending wars, but his ongoing threats of escalation with Venezuela directly contradict that promise," O'Donnell said. "Voters are noticing."
When asked about priorities foreign and domestic, respondents soured on President Donald Trump’s current agenda involving Venezuela and Maduro—instead wanting more attention paid to the home front.
Again, all demographics but Republicans (+16) said Maduro’s removal should be a top priority for the administration. Just 37% overall referenced his removal as a priority.
The same was true when asked whether alleged boat drug traffickers should continue to be targeted, which was supported by 70% of Republicans and opposed by 76% of Democrats and 64% of independents—totaling 45% who say that bombing alleged drug boats in the Caribbean should be a “top priority” or “somewhat of a priority.”
Fewer voters said the same about deploying troops to Mexico to crack down on drug trafficking (43%).
In contrast, more than 70% of voters said that extending the Affordable Care Act tax credits (75%), restoring Medicaid funding (71%), and increasing funding for drug treatment and rehabilitation (71%) should be at least somewhat of a priority.
