During the 2024 presidential election campaign, YouGov asked registered voters their views on eight topics, including foreign policy — the foreign policy issues that matter most to them, the policies they support, and the candidates they trust.
Among our findings:
- Foreign policy is ranked by few voters as a top-three issue, coming in seventh place among eight polled, though fourth among Trump supporters.
- The Israeli-Palestinian conflict tops the list of foreign policy issues that voters are most likely to care about, with roughly equal shares of Harris and Trump supporters saying it's among the three foreign policy issues they prioritize most. Harris supporters put about as much emphasis on the Ukraine-Russia war, while Trump supporters see this conflict as a lower priority. A large share of Harris supporters choose human rights as a top foreign policy priority. Terrorism ranks highest overall among Trump supporters while defense spending also ranks highly in this group.
- Trump has held a small but consistent edge over Harris for handling foreign policy. Trump's advantage over Harris is somewhat bigger for trust in handling the specific major conflicts involving Ukraine and Israel. Voters also are more likely to trust Trump to handle terrorism, relations with China, and defense spending. The only foreign policy issue for which Harris has a large edge over Trump in trust is human rights.
- Despite Trump's lead in trust, Harris' specific foreign policy proposals are, on average, somewhat more popular than Trump's. Roughly three-quarters of voters favor Harris' plans for continuing sanctions on Russia, restricting technology exports to China, and upholding commitments to international agreements. Each of these three proposals are supported by majorities of Harris' and Trump's supporters.
- None of Trump's foreign policy proposals included in the poll is backed by majorities of supporters from both sides, though his plans to increase tariffs and decrease foreign aid are quite popular among his own voters. His proposal to ban transgender military service is especially unpopular.
- Majorities of voters supporting each candidate are able to connect most of Trump's foreign policies to the former president. But Trump's voters have a harder time identifying Harris', especially those which they personally support. Just 10% of Trump supporters, for example, are aware that Harris favors banning advanced technology exports to China.
Which foreign policy issues do voters care about?
In a series of recent surveys, we asked voters to choose up to three issues that are most important to them out of a list of eight: the economy, health care, immigration, crime, social issues, environment and energy, foreign policy, and education.
To better understand which specific foreign policy issues voters care about, we asked them to select up to three issues from a list of 10 that are most important to them.
Who do voters trust to handle foreign policy?
Since Harris entered the presidential race against Trump, we've tracked who voters trust more to handle various issues, including foreign policy.
In our latest survey, we asked voters to tell us which of 10 foreign-policy-related issues they trust Harris and Trump to handle.
Which foreign policies do voters support?
We asked voters whether they support or oppose selected foreign policy proposals that have been backed by Harris, Trump, or their respective parties. It was not revealed to respondents which candidate was connected to which policy. The policies come from the 2024 Democratic and Republican Party platforms, as well as publicly available interviews, speeches, debates, and online posts by the candidates. For more sourcing information, see the details provided here.
How familiar are voters with Harris' and Trump's foreign policy agendas?
After providing their opinions on various foreign policies, respondents were asked which candidate they think supports each one, with options of Kamala Harris, Donald Trump, both, or neither. Respondents who selected "both candidates" are included as saying both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
Explore Americans' views on policies across all issue areas:
See other polling related to foreign policy
- What Americans think about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- An increasing number of Americans think Ukraine is winning its war with Russia
- Which U.S. military interventions do Americans think have been successful?
- Most Americans think there will be another world war within the next decade
- Most Americans like NATO and say the U.S. should defend NATO allies
- American and Western European attitudes to NATO in February 2024
- Four months after Hamas attacked Israel, has American opinion on the longstanding conflict changed?
- Ukraine war two years on – the view from Western Europe and the US
- Has genocide been happening in either Israel or Gaza? On both, Americans are split
- Americans support ceasefires in both Israel-Hamas and Russia-Ukraine wars
- Polls from the Past: How opinion has changed on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- What Americans think about the Russia-Ukraine war as Congress passes Ukraine aid
- How Americans are reacting to escalating violence in Israel
- A growing share of Republicans want to decrease aid to Ukraine
- Which groups of Americans believe conspiracy theories about Ukraine and Russia?
- How do Americans remember Trump’s record on Russia and Ukraine?
Curious where voters stand on other issues? Click the links below to learn more.
- Overview of all issues
- Economy
- Health care
- Immigration
- Crime
- Social issues
- Environment and energy
- Education
See the full results for these surveys
See the full list of the policies and their sources
Methodology: This poll was conducted online on September 27 - 30, 2024 among 1,116 U.S. adult citizens, including 977 registered voters. 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, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given prior to November 1, 2022, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (33% Democratic, 31% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample, as well as for registered voters, is approximately 4%.
Image: Getty
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