Trump's use of National Guard in U.S. cities unpopular with Americans, polls show
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Americans remain opposed to the Trump administration's domestic use of the military, while placing higher trust in veterans who run for office than business officials, according to recent polling.
Why it matters: The polls are the latest indicator that President Trump's continued use of the National Guard in U.S. cities isn't sitting well with some voters, nor many of the state and local officials impacted by the decisions.
- So far, Trump has ordered the National Guard to Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Memphis, Chicago and Portland. The governors of California, Illinois, and Oregon, as well as D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb, have sued to stop the deployments.
- The deployments have been met with backlash and protests, as Trump has floated invoking the Insurrection Act to deploy more troops.
- "If people were being killed, and courts were holding us up, or governors or mayors were holding us up, sure, I'd do that," Trump said earlier this week in the Oval Office.
By the numbers: 58% of Americans, including 7 out of 10 Democrats and half of Republicans polled, said the president should send armed troops only to face external threats, per a Reuters/Ipsos report released Wednesday.
- 37% of adults said they believe the president should be able to send troops into a state even with the objections of the governor, and 15% said they weren't sure.
The intrigue: Polling continues to show a partisan divide, despite an overwhelming majority of U.S. adults agreeing that the military should remain politically neutral.
Zoom in: Last month, 49% of respondents in an NPR/Ipsos survey said they opposed deploying National Guard troops to a major city in their state for law enforcement efforts. 12% said they were not sure.
- 52% said they opposed deploying troops to their own local areas for law enforcement efforts, and 13% said they weren't sure.
Behind the scenes: In a recent Gallup poll, a majority of Americans also said that a political candidate's military experience makes them much (16%) or somewhat (39%) more likely to vote for them.
- Americans are about as likely to value prior government experience, but view business experience less positively.
- Veterans are viewed as having strong leadership qualities and are trusted more to assist with disaster relief efforts.
Go deeper:
- Trump's MAGA-fied military prepares for "war from within"
- How Trump could use the Insurrection Act to send troops to American cities
Methodology:
- The Reuters/Ipsos poll, conducted online, surveyed 1,154 U.S. adults nationwide between Oct. 3-7 and had a margin of error of ±3 percentage points.
- The NPR/Ipsos poll surveyed 1,020 U.S. adults between Sept. 18-21 and has a margin of error of ±3.2 percentage points.
- The Gallup poll, conducted online, surveyed 2,132 adults between Aug. 1-15 and has a margin of error of ±3 percentage points.
