A new YouGov poll on nuclear weapons finds that nearly half of Americans believe it’s likely the U.S. will get into a nuclear war in the coming decade, and most are worried about personally experiencing a nuclear war. A majority believe nuclear weapons are making the world less safe, but opinions are mixed on whether the U.S. should dismantle all of its nuclear weapons.
46% of Americans think it’s likely the U.S. will get into a nuclear war within the next 10 years; 37% think this is not very or not at all likely. 57% of Democrats and 37% of Republicans think this is likely.
About as many Americans think it’s likely that terrorists or criminals will use a nuclear weapon in the U.S. within the next 10 years as expect a nuclear war in that time (44% vs. 46%).
Two-thirds (65%) of Americans are very or somewhat concerned about personally experiencing nuclear war. Democrats are more likely than Republicans to be concerned about this (77% vs. 58%).
In March 2022, Americans were similarly likely (69%) to be concerned about personally experiencing nuclear war.
About half (52%) of Americans say they have not considered what they would do in case of a nuclear attack on their country; 37% say they have. Americans 45 and older are more likely than younger adults to say they have considered what they would do (42% vs. 31%).
About half (52%) of Americans believe there is a greater chance now than there was 10 years ago of a nuclear war occurring. Only 9% think there is a lesser chance now than there was in 2015, and 31% think the chances are about the same. Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say there is a greater chance now than there was 10 years ago (71% vs. 37%).
About half (53%) of Americans — including 88% of Democrats and 8% of Republicans — say they are not very or not at all confident in Donald Trump’s ability to make good decisions regarding nuclear weapons. 39% of Americans are very or somewhat confident in his ability to make good decisions regarding nuclear weapons.
In September 2016, 60% of Americans — including 89% of Democrats and 27% of Republicans — were not very or not at all confident in Trump’s ability to make good decisions about nuclear weapons.
Asked to choose which of three statements comes closest to their view, 42% of Americans say congressional approval should always be required for the president to use nuclear weapons. About one-third (34%) say the statement “congressional approval should be required unless the president is retaliating against another country’s use of nuclear weapons” comes closest to their view, and only 11% align with thinking that the president should always have the power to use nuclear weapons without needing congressional approval.
Democrats are much more likely than Republicans to say the position that comes closest to their view is that congressional approval should always be required for the president to use nuclear weapons (63% vs. 25%).
One-third (33%) of Americans say the U.S. having nuclear weapons makes them feel more safe. Slightly less (26%) say it makes them feel less safe, and 33% say it makes them feel neither more nor less safe. Republicans are more than twice as likely as Democrats to say the U.S. possessing nuclear weapons makes them feel safer (54% vs. 23%).
56% of Americans say the statement that comes closest to their view is that the U.S. should only use nuclear weapons in response to a nuclear attack. A much smaller share (21%) say the U.S. should never use nuclear weapons under any circumstances, and only 7% say that in certain circumstances, the U.S. should use nuclear weapons even if it has not suffered a nuclear attack.
About two-thirds (69%) of Americans think nuclear weapons are making the world a more dangerous place. Far less (9%) think they’re making the world a safer place, and 13% say they’re not making the world safer or more dangerous. Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say nuclear weapons are making the world a more dangerous place (82% vs. 57%).
56% of Americans think countries with nuclear weapons should get rid of them, but only if all countries get rid of them. Far less say countries with nuclear weapons should retain them (14%) and a similar share (12%) say countries with nuclear weapons should get rid of them, regardless of whether other countries get rid of them or not.
About half (49%) of Americans — including 66% of Democrats and 31% of Republicans — approve of cutting the number of nuclear weapons the United States has. About half as many Americans (25%) disapprove.
Americans are more likely now than they were in August 2016 to approve of cutting the number of nuclear weapons the U.S. has (49% vs. 42%). Democrats are more likely to approve now: 66%, up from 58% in 2016.
Americans are evenly divided on whether they support (39%) or oppose (39%) the U.S. dismantling all of its nuclear weapons. Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say they would support the U.S. dismantling all of its nuclear weapons (58% vs. 21%).
Americans are more likely now than they were in September 2016 to say they would support the U.S. dismantling all its nuclear weapons (39% vs. 29% in 2016). In 2016, smaller shares of Democrats (42%) and Republicans (14%) supported this idea than support it now.
Majorities of Americans are very or somewhat concerned about North Korea (84%), Russia (80%), China (78%), Pakistan (76%), Israel (64%), and India (54%) possessing nuclear weapons. Around half (49%) say the same about the U.S. Smaller shares are concerned about France (30%) or the United Kingdom (30%) having nuclear weapons.
Related:
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- The YouGov Big Survey on NATO and war: Americans on defense and reasons to go to war
- Is there a war in American cities?
See the results for this YouGov survey
— Carl Bialik and Taylor Orth contributed to this article
Methodology: This article includes results from an online survey conducted on October 30 - November 2, 2025 among 1,148 U.S. adult citizens. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of adult U.S. citizens. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 32% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 4 percentage points.
Image: Getty
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