Americans Prioritize Using US Troops Defensively

The public supports deploying US troops to defend allies, particularly in Europe, but most oppose using them for territorial expansion.

In 2024, Donald Trump ran on an antiwar platform, declaring in his victory speech, “I’m not going to start wars, I’m going to stop wars.” Yet he has used military force controversially since returning to the White House, deploying troops to American cities and killing dozens in strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean without congressional approval. Besides threatening intervention from Greenland to Nigeria and Mexico to Venezuela, he has previously suggested withdrawing protection for US allies if they did not increase their defense budgets.

Results from the 2025 Chicago Council Survey, fielded July 18–30, reveal these policies to be at odds with large swaths of public opinion. Americans overall prefer to reserve US troops for defending allies and American territory, though Republicans are more amenable to seeing boots on the ground domestically. While bipartisan majorities oppose sending troops to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia, protecting European NATO allies against Russian invasion remains the top priority. And though support for maintaining overseas bases has dropped slightly since 2022, many still recognize the importance of a long-term US military presence in frontline allies in Europe and Asia. 

Key Findings

• In principle, majorities favor deploying troops to defend allies (81%) and American territory (94%). Seven in 10 also support preventive action to stop countries from supporting terrorism (69%) or obtaining nuclear weapons (72%).
• Republicans are more willing than Democrats or Independents to use military force abroad and at home, including for territorial expansion (30% vs. 17% Democrats), suppressing protests (52% vs. 17% Democrats), and enforcing the law (70% vs. 26% Democrats).
• When asked separately about specific scenarios, Americans support using US troops to defend Poland (62%) or the Baltic states (55%) from Russian attack and to defend South Korea from a North Korean attack (52%). A minority (41%) support US forces defending Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion.
• More than half favor maintaining bases in South Korea (66%), Germany (60%), Japan (59%), the Philippines (56%), the Baltic states (56%), and Poland (53%), though support for all bases around the world has dipped since 2022.

Public Agrees on Priorities for US Troops; Republicans More Open to Military Deployment

Americans have a clear hierarchy of preferences for defensive, preventive, domestic, and expansionist uses of military force. At least eight in 10 favor using troops to defend US allies (81%) and American territory (94%), though a separate set of questions reveals that support varies according to the specific ally. Solid majorities also believe the military should be used preventively, either to stop other countries supporting terrorist groups (69%) or from acquiring nuclear weapons (72%). In contrast, public appetite for boots on the ground for domestic purposes is limited, whether for suppressing protests (30%) or conducting law enforcement operations (43%). At the very bottom is territorial expansion, for which only a fifth (21%) favor military deployment.  

At the top of the list of priorities, Republicans and Democrats overwhelmingly endorse defensive military force. Six in seven partisans (86% Republicans, 84% Democrats) favor deploying troops in case allies are invaded, with 99 percent of Republicans and 95 percent of Democrats (95%) in support of protecting the American homeland.1

Americans also support using troops for preventive operations abroad. Despite a steady decline in concerns about terrorism over the past decades, seven in 10 Americans (69%) support military action against terrorist sponsors, up from 64 percent in 2018 when the Chicago Council last asked this question. More than eight in 10 Republicans (83%, up from 75% in 2018) and seven in 10 Democrats (69%, up from 58% in 2018) endorse using the US military for this purpose as do six in 10 Independents (59%, down from 63% in 2018). 

A similar proportion of Americans today (72%) are willing to see troops deployed to stop more countries from acquiring nuclear weapons compared to seven years ago (70%). While support over the period remains largely unchanged among Democrats and Independents, Republican support has risen eight points (90%, up from 82%). A month before the 2025 Chicago Council Survey was fielded, Trump ordered military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, potentially influencing Republican opinion. 

However, recent polling suggests there are limits to what Americans will consider “preventive” uses of force abroad. In recent months, Trump has ordered the military to destroy small boats carrying suspected “narco-terrorists” in the Caribbean without judicial due process. Administration officials claim the strikes are conducted in self-defense to prevent drugs from entering the United States. But a Reuters/Ipsos poll fielded in November shows that just three in 10 Americans (29%) support the strikes while half (51%) stand opposed.

All partisans view deploying troops within US borders as less palatable than in any other scenario posed, with the exception of territorial expansion. Republicans, however, are much more amenable to using troops domestically. Just 17 percent of Democrats and 22 percent of Independents favor suppressing protests militarily compared to half of Republicans (52%). Likewise, though only minorities of Democrats (26%) and Independents (34%) want US troops to enforce the law on American soil, a majority of Republicans favor doing so (70%). 

Though a minority, Republicans (30%) are more likely than Democrats (17%) or Independents (16%) to favor using US troops to expand US territory. Support for military expansion is even more limited under more specific scenarios. More than nine in 10 Americans oppose using US troops to annex Canada (93%) or Greenland (91%), with only small portions of Republicans favoring either.  

Americans’ distaste for military adventurism abroad likely extends to attempted regime change. Over the past few months, Trump has amassed military assets in the Caribbean and repeatedly hinted at sending troops to depose Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. A CBS News/YouGov poll fielded November 19–21, however, shows a significant majority of Americans would oppose military action in Venezuela (70%), a country only 13 percent consider a “major threat” to US security.

Europe Remains the Center of US Defensive Commitments 

A second set of questions that offered specific situations for potential conflicts finds that support for defensive intervention abroad varies geographically. Across the four scenarios posed, the public is most likely to favor a military response to Russian invasions of European allies. Roughly six in 10 Americans favor using US troops “if Russia invades a NATO ally like Poland” (62%), and majorities across all partisan stripes agree. And when last asked in 2024, two-thirds overall (64%) said they would favor using US troops “if Russian invades a NATO ally, like Germany.”

A majority of Americans also favor using US troops if Russia were to invade “a NATO ally like Latvia, Lithuania, or Estonia” (55%). This is broadly in line with previous results following an increase in overall support for backing the Baltics in 2014 and 2015, directly after the Russian annexation of Crimea. While this scenario garners more Democratic (60%) than Independent (54%) or Republican (52%) support, majorities within each group currently endorse US action. 

Regarding the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine, however, Americans across the political spectrum broadly oppose sending US troops to help Kyiv defend itself against Russia (35% overall oppose), including 20 percent of Republicans, 34 percent of Independents, and 48 percent of Democrats. 

The American public is less likely to favor military intervention in Asia than in Europe. Nevertheless, cross-partisan support for transpacific alliances has risen in recent years. Chicago Council polling shows that from 2017 to the present, at least half of Americans have consistently supported military intervention to defend South Korea from an attack by North Korea. This year, 52 percent of Americans favor this approach, a figure that includes 58 percent of Republicans and half of Democrats and Independents (50% each). Support for aiding South Korea in the event of a North Korean attack tends to increase when threat perceptions from Pyongyang are more pronounced, as they were in 2017 and 2018.  

Since 2019, roughly four in 10 Americans have favored using US troops to defend Taiwan if it is invaded by China (41%). While this backing is limited, it represents a consistent climb in support since the question was first asked in 1982 (when just 19 percent agreed) and comes alongside strong support for nonmilitary aid to Taiwan. As is the case with defending South Korea, Republicans (47%) are more likely than Democrats (39%) and Independents (38%) to support using US troops for this purpose. This difference likely reflects Republicans’ higher sense of threat from China than other partisans. While six in 10 Republicans say the development of China as a world power is a critical threat (61%), only 44 percent of Democrats agree.  

Public Backs Frontline US Military Presence, though Support Down Slightly Since 2022

The ability to deploy troops during a crisis depends on permanent US military bases abroad, which currently number at least 128 across 49 countries. Support for America’s overseas military presence remains at comparable levels to previous years, with the public prioritizing frontline bases in Europe and Asia.  

In Europe, at least half say the United States should maintain bases in Germany (60%), Poland (53%), and “NATO allies like Latvia, Lithuania, or Estonia” (56%). Though support for all of the above has dipped slightly since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, that year marked the first time support for bases in Poland surpassed 50 percent, overtaking bases in fellow NATO member Turkey. This year, 48 percent of Americans think the United States should maintain bases in the latter country. Notably, half of Americans (52%) currently support maintaining a long-term American military presence in Saudi Arabia, largely unchanged from 54 percent the last time this option was asked almost two decades ago in 2006. 

In East Asia, two-thirds today favor maintaining South Korean bases (66%), support for which has not dropped below 60 percent in over 20 years. Slightly fewer (59%) also say the United States should maintain a long-term military presence in Japan, which hosts the largest US overseas military presence, followed by the Philippines (56%). In contrast, less than half say there should be long-term US bases in Australia (47%), geographically farther from the frontlines of potential new conflicts. Events in Europe appear to weigh on opinion on Indo-Pacific deployments. For all of the above, support for long-term military bases is down from 2022 (2021 for the Philippines).  

In general, Republicans are likelier than Democrats to favor maintaining US overseas bases (see appendix). Eastern Europe presents an exception, perhaps because Republicans are less wary of Russia than are Democrats (51% say Russia’s military power is a critical threat vs. 41% of Republicans). Whereas three-fifths of Democrats (61%) support a long-term troop presence in the Baltic states, just half of Republicans do (53%). Nor is there a statistically significant difference between Democrats (53%) and Republicans (57%) on Polish bases (see appendix). 

Conclusion

Findings from 2025 show Americans in support of a global US security role grounded in alliances and defense more than in expansion or domestic uses of force. Consensus in coming years may yet change, as Republicans advocate a far greater domestic role for US troops than do either Democrats or Independents. Abroad, Europe remains the public’s top priority, though support for defending partners in Asia has grown slowly but steadily. 

Though Americans continue to favor maintaining US bases overseas, especially in countries on the front lines of potential new conflicts, declines in those numbers since 2022 serve as a timely reminder that public support responds to current events. As the White House threatens a slate of assertive military actions, policymakers should remember that what Americans see as legitimate uses of US power depends on how prudently that power is wielded. 

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  In this survey, one-half of the total sample was asked questions about general uses of force (to defend allies, domestic purposes, etc.) while the other half was asked about specific hypothetical scenarios. As in past polls, more general questions find higher levels of support while more specific questions yield lower levels of support.