Record share of Americans support higher defence spending

A record proportion of Americans now support increased defence spending, the annual Reagan National Defense Survey said.

Nearly 80 per cent of respondents indicated they favor a larger military budget, with 49 per cent expressing strong support for the increase. This figure represents a two-point rise from last year, consistently showing overwhelming backing for higher defence spending. It surpasses support for other foreign policy objectives, such as international aid (43%) and efforts to promote freedom abroad (61%), Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

However, domestic spending priorities such as Social Security (89%), healthcare (84%), and infrastructure (89%) remain more popular, reflecting the growing challenge posed by entitlement programs that may put pressure on the defense budget in the coming years.

The Ronald Reagan Institute has been conducting annual surveys of US public opinion on national security for six years, and the most recent poll was carried out two days after the November presidential election.

The survey, based on a representative sample of around 2,500 Americans, was not focused solely on voters but on the broader public. National security issues are typically not a major focus in elections, but the past year has been an exception due to significant differences in the candidates' foreign policy views and voter dissatisfaction with the Biden administration's approach to Israel, particularly amid ongoing conflicts in Gaza and, more recently, Lebanon.

Public trust in the military has risen slightly after several years of decline, though it remains nearly 20 percentage points below the peak of 70 per cent recorded in 2018.

A majority of respondents expressed support for continuing US security assistance to Ukraine (55%) and Israel (54%), while 41 per cent stated that the US military should be large enough to simultaneously combat China and Russia—a force greater than the one currently envisioned.

“This sentiment aligns with President Trump's rhetoric during his campaign, which emphasized ‘peace through strength’ as a central theme,” noted Rachel Hoff, the Reagan Institute’s policy director. “Our survey shows this message is resonating with the American public.” However, Trump has not fully defined his concept of "peace" or "strength." While defence spending increased during his first term, his views on defense spending don't align neatly with any specific faction within the Republican foreign policy community, resulting in competing factions vying for influence.

These factions are broadly divided into three groups. Traditional defense hawks advocate for greater military spending and a more extensive global military presence. "Prioritizers" and "restrainers" favor a more selective approach to military engagements, with prioritizers advocating for focusing resources on specific crises. Among these groups, the view of shifting focus from Europe to Asia has the least public support. Indeed, 88% of Republican respondents in the survey supported increased defense spending.

“The prioritizers do not reflect the preferences of Republican voters,” said Thomas Kenna, also from the Reagan Institute. “Republican voters want a military powerful enough to handle both China and Russia simultaneously.”

By Vafa Guliyeva