The U.S. military has been amassing ships in the Caribbean Sea around Venezuela since late August. This drew significant public attention after the military struck and destroyed a Venezuelan ship, killing 11 on board. The Trump administration claims the ship was being used to smuggle drugs. The administration also claims that Venezuela's government, including its president Nicolás Maduro, is involved in illegal drug trafficking. The Venezuelan government has increased its own military presence in the Caribbean, raising the risk of an escalating conflict.
In a new YouGov survey, we found that American attitudes are split on the deployment, but that majorities of Americans would oppose using military force to invade Venezuela or overthrow Maduro. Americans are more likely to view Venezuela as an enemy than as an ally, but many do not have strong opinions about Venezuela or Maduro. More Americans say that foreign military interventions make situations worse than say they make them better, and appraisals of American military interventions have gotten more negative in the last few years.
More Americans see Venezuela as an enemy than see it as an ally
Americans are more likely to see Venezuela as unfriendly or an enemy of the U.S. than to see it as friendly or an ally (49% vs. 16%). However, a significant share of Americans don't know what Venezuela's relationship with the U.S. is: 35% say they're not sure if it's an ally or an enemy.
Republicans are more likely to have an opinion of Venezuela than are Democrats or Independents: Only 26% of Republicans say they're not sure if it's an ally or an enemy, compared to 40% of Democrats and Independents. Republicans are also more likely to view Venezuela's relationship with the U.S. negatively: 59% of Republicans say Venezuela is unfriendly or an enemy, compared to 47% of Independents and 41% of Democrats.
The partisan divide on views of Venezuela is nothing new. YouGov polls in 2013, 2022, 2023, and 2024 all showed that Republicans are more likely than other Americans to see Venezuela as unfriendly or an enemy of the U.S. Views of Venezuela are more politically polarized today than they were in 2024, but they are quite similar to attitudes in 2022 and 2013.
Half of Americans don't have an opinion about Venezuela's president
Even more Americans are uncertain in their evaluations of Maduro than are unsure about Venezuela. Half (50%) of Americans say they don't know whether they have a favorable or an unfavorable opinion of Maduro. Those who do have an opinion overwhelmingly view him negatively: 44% of Americans have a somewhat or very unfavorable opinion of Maduro, while only 6% have a somewhat or very favorable opinion.
Republicans are particularly likely to view Maduro negatively: 53% of Republicans have an unfavorable opinion of him, compared to 44% of Democrats and 37% of Independents. Positive views of Maduro are rare in all three groups: Only 4% of Democrats, 9% of Independents, and 5% of Republicans have a favorable opinion of him.
While many Americans are unsure what to think about Maduro, even more are unsure if the U.S. would be better off if he remains president of Venezuela or if he is overthrown. A majority (61%) of Americans say they are not sure which scenario the U.S. would be better off in. However, those who have an opinion are much more likely to say it would be better if he is overthrown than if he remains president (33% of all Americans say it would be better if he were overthrown; 6% say it would be better if he remains).
As with overall opinions of Maduro, Republicans are more likely than Democrats or Independents to hold a negative view: 44% of Republicans say the U.S. would be better off if Maduro is overthrown, compared to 29% of Democrats and 27% of Independents. But few Americans say the U.S. would be better off if Maduro remains in power: Only 7% of Democrats, 7% of Independents, and 5% of Republicans take this position.
Americans are divided over sending Navy ships near Venezuela
The American public is divided over the presence of U.S. Navy ships in the Caribbean near Venezuela. Americans are about as likely to somewhat or strongly approve of sending Navy ships to the sea around Venezuela as they are to disapprove of it (36% vs. 38%).
A majority of Republicans approve of the Navy's presence (68% vs. 13% who disapprove). On the other hand, a majority of Democrats disapprove (15% approve vs. 62% who disapprove). Many Independents (37%) don't know where they stand on this issue, but Independents are more likely to disapprove of sending Navy ships to Venezuela than to approve of it (26% approve vs. 37% who disapprove).
Most Americans would not like to see the U.S. engage in a more significant conflict with Venezuela: 62% of Americans would strongly or somewhat oppose the U.S. invading Venezuela, while only 16% would support an invasion.
Democrats, Independents, and Republicans all are more likely to oppose a military invasion of Venezuela than to support one. Majorities of Democrats (74%) and Independents (63%) would oppose an invasion; only 9% of each group would support one. Republicans are more divided on the issue: About half (48%) oppose an invasion, but one-third (31%) would support one.
Americans do not have quite as negative a view of using military force just to overthrow Maduro as president of Venezuela, but this idea still draws opposition from about half of Americans: 53% would oppose a military overthrow of Maduro, while only 18% would support it.
As with an invasion, Democrats and Independents are much more likely to oppose a military overthrow than to support one (67% vs. 8% among Democrats and 52% vs. 14% among Independents). Republicans, on the other hand, are nearly evenly split on a military overthrow of Maduro: 34% would support it, while 38% would oppose it.
Some Venezuelan opposition figures have suggested that the U.S. military presence in the region may embolden Venezuelans to attempt to overthrow Maduro. Our polling finds that there is less American opposition to support of a domestic Venezuelan revolt than there is to unilateral action by the U.S. against the Maduro regime. While Americans are more likely to oppose than to support providing military assistance if Venezuelans try to overthrow Maduro (39% vs. 32%), this is a lower level of opposition than the majorities of Americans who oppose the U.S. directly invading Venezuela or overthrowing Maduro.
Democrats and Independents are more likely to oppose than to support offering military support to Venezuelan revolutionaries (48% vs. 25% among Democrats and 42% vs. 23% among Independents). On the other hand, about half (49%) of Republicans would support providing such support, while only 26% would oppose it.
Americans take an increasingly dim view of military interventions in general
American's widespread opposition to an invasion of Venezuela may stem, in part, from an overall negative view of foreign military interventions. Americans are more likely to say that foreign military interventions worsen situations in the countries where they take place than to say they improve them (36% vs. 20%).
Americans' views of foreign military interventions have become more negative in the past few years. YouGov polling in 2023 found that only 28% of Americans said that military interventions tended to worsen situations, while 36% say so today. The share saying military interventions make situations better has fallen to 20%, from 24% in 2023.
This change in attitudes has taken place primarily among Democrats and Independents. The share of Democrats saying military interventions make situations worse has risen to 43% from 25% in 2023 — when Joe Biden, a Democrat, was president. The share among Independents has grown to 38% from 31%. Democrats have also become much less likely to say that American military interventions improve situations: That share has fallen to 16% from 34% in 2023. The share of Independents saying this has not significantly changed (13% in 2025 vs. 11% in 2023). Republicans' views have remained largely unchanged in general. The share of Republicans who say that American military interventions improve situations is 33% today, a small increase from 31% in 2023, while the share saying they make situations worse is 26% today, a small decrease from 28% in 2023.
— Taylor Orth and Carl Bialik contributed to this article
See the results for this YouGov survey
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Methodology: This YouGov poll was conducted online on September 5 - 8, 2025 among 1,114 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. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. 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%.
Image: Getty (U.S. Navy / Handout)
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