New Delhi: A new Pew Research Center survey finds Americans broadly supportive of foreign aid, but only of a certain kind. The report reveals that while eight in ten US adults back the provision of food and medical assistance to developing nations, support begins to splinter along political lines when it comes to more strategic or militarised forms of aid.
Published 1 May, the report, titled ‘Majorities of Americans Support Several—But Not All—Types of Foreign Aid,’ comes at a time when the Donald Trump administration has moved to dismantle the US foreign aid infrastructure as a part of a larger effort to cut government spending.
According to the report, Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents were consistently more supportive of foreign aid than Republicans and Republican-leaning respondents.
Specifically, 45 percent of the respondents disapproved of ending most of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) programmes, while just 35 percent approved of it. The survey was conducted after the Trump administration ended 80 percent of the programmes under the US government’s foreign aid agency. In February, Trump defended his administration’s actions, saying, “We’re giving billions and billions of dollars to countries that hate us.”
Perhaps most striking is the growing divide in how Democrats and Republicans envision the US’s role in the world. Nearly two thirds of Democrats (62 percent) believe the US should remain active in world affairs, while 67 percent of the Republicans think the country should concentrate more on domestic issues. This is consistent with Trump’s ‘America First’ stance as a Republican president.
This ideological split further deepens when it comes to considering the interests of other countries. An overwhelming 83 percent of Democrats support taking other nations’ interests into account, even if it means compromising on US goals. Republicans, on the other hand, the report says, “are divided: 47 percent say the US should consider other countries, while 52 percent say it should follow its own interests”.
Despite this, Americans remain most warmly disposed toward their traditional allies. All countries in the Group of Seven (G7) enjoy favourable views from over 60 percent of the respondents. This group includes France, Canada, Germany, Japan, the UK, and Italy.
The respondents held highly unfavourable views towards China, Russia, and Iran, with only 21 percent viewing China positively. This dropped to 13 percent for Russia and just 10 percent for Iran.
When it comes to India, overall, 49 percent of respondents view it positively. More specifically, only 45 percent of Republicans/ Republican-leaning viewed India positively, against 53 percent of Democrat or Democrat-leaning respondents.
The report added that this was a marginal increase from 43 percent last year.
“Republicans, however, are more than twice as likely as Democrats to give Israel a positive rating (62 percent vs. 29 percent). The only other country that Republicans rate more highly than Democrats is Russia (16 percent vs percent),” the survey added.
Furthermore, 52 percent of respondents said “country’s influence in the world is getting weaker, roughly the same share as in 2024”. In the belief that the US has lost global influence, Democrats (67 percent) reversed positions with Republicans (37 percent) since last year.
Meanwhile, China is seen as the real ascendant force in world affairs, with 73 percent of respondents acknowledging its growing influence. Interestingly, roughly half (48 percent) agreed that the US was the leading economic power. This, too, is in line with the rhetoric advanced by Trump, who has claimed in the past, “We’ve lost over $1 trillion to China.”
Still, 76 percent believe the US is the world’s top military power. In this, the partisan divide here is telling, with Republicans much more likely to harbour faith in America’s stature. “58 percent say it is the top economic power (compared with 40 percent of Democrats) while 80 percent say it is the top military power (73 percent of Democrats),” the report said.
Sumedha Manhas is an intern with ThePrint.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
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