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Former President Donald Trump appears to be at odds with supporters of his Make America Great Again agenda over Ukraine, following the Turning Point Action Conference held in Florida on Sunday.
At the conservative organization's event, which had Trump as its keynote speaker, a straw poll was conducted, asking attendees their views on U.S. involvement in the war in Ukraine. There was overwhelming opposition to it.
Trump is the leading candidate for the Republican Party's 2024 presidential nomination. In a Sunday interview on Fox News, the former president said he would give Ukraine "more than they ever got if we have to" and added that he could end the war in 24 hours.
The results of the Turning Point Action Conference's straw poll were announced by Charlie Kirk, president of Turning Point USA. He said on Sunday that 95.8 percent of conference attendees were opposed to U.S. involvement in the war.
"The most lopsided question that we asked is this final question, which is—so almost every single Republican running for the presidency is an enthusiastic cheerleader to send cluster bombs, munitions and potentially American troops to eastern Ukraine to go fight Russia," Kirk said, during the event at the Palm Beach County Convention Center.
No U.S. troops are fighting in Ukraine and there is no indication that the Biden administration is considering deploying U.S. personnel to fight Russia.
Newsweek has reached out to former President Trump's office via email for comment.
Exclusive polling conducted for Newsweek by Redfield & Wilton Strategies found that 43 percent of Trump voters believe the U.S. has provided too much support to Ukraine, while 20 percent felt it was too little, 20 percent said it was about right and 17 percent answered "don't know."
The survey also found that 41 percent of Trump voters believe the U.S. "should reconsider our levels of support as the war continues," while 20 percent believed U.S. support should stop now. A further 26 percent said support should continue until Ukraine wins the war and 13 percent didn't know.
The Redfield & Wilton Strategies was conducted on July 15 and 16 among 1,500 registered voters.
Speaking to Fox News' Maria Bartiromo on Sunday, Trump again said he could end the war quickly if he were in office but added that he would provide further support for Ukraine.
"I know Zelensky very well, and I know Putin very well, even better. And I had a good relationship, very good with both of them," Trump said.
"I would tell Zelensky, no more. You got to make a deal. I would tell Putin, if you don't make a deal, we're going to give him a lot. We're going to [give Ukraine] more than they ever got if we have to. I will have the deal done in one day. One day," the former president added.
Trump's stated support for Ukraine stands in contrast to the views expressed by some Republicans. His ally Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene recently took aim at $300 million in funding for Ukraine in an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act.
Greene's amendment was defeated as 89 Republicans voted in favor of eliminating the funding while 130 voted against it.
Other recent surveys have also found that Republicans are opposed to continued U.S. support for Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia in February 2022.
A Gallup survey in June found that 49 percent of Republicans were in favor of ending the conflict quickly "even if Russia keeps territory," compared to 47 percent who opposed this. Just 19 percent of Democrats favored a quick resolution that could see Russia keep territory, while 79 percent were opposed.
A Pew Research Center study published on June 15 found that 44 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents believe the U.S. is providing too much aid to Ukraine. This was up from 40 percent in January. A further 20 percent said U.S. aid was about right and 14 percent felt it wasn't enough.
By contrast, just 14 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents believed the U.S. was giving Ukraine too much aid, while 44 percent said it was about right and 19 percent replied it wasn't enough.
It remains to be seen how Trump's stance on Ukraine could affect his campaign for the GOP nomination, where he is the clear frontrunner in the early stages.
Update 07/19/23 8:00 a.m. ET: This article was updated to include exclusive polling conducted for Newsweek by Redfield & Wilton Strategies.
About the writer
Darragh Roche is a U.S. News Reporter based in Limerick, Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. politics. He has ... Read more