Most Community Types in America Favor Continuing Support for Ukraine
President-elect Donald Trump won his return to the White House promising bold changes, including changes in U.S. policy toward the war between Russia and Ukraine, which he said he could end quickly.
What the Trump policy will look like is unclear, but results from the AP VoteCast survey conducted around the election showed most Americans, 55%, are in favor of continuing aid to Ukraine in the fight.
Within the American Communities Project’s 15 types, the views are more mixed — some in favor, some opposed — but there is still strong support for aiding Ukraine. In 11 of the 15 types, more people favor continuing aid than ending it, and that includes some places that went for Trump, even by large margins.
Considering the divisions in the electorate on a host of issues, the 55% support for continuing aid to Ukraine is noteworthy, particularly since Trump, who won, did not profess support for the aid. And the support for Ukraine aid covers a range of different kinds of places. (Note: The community types that voted for Trump are in ALL CAPS below.)
In a range of different community types, a majority of those surveyed said they “somewhat” or “strongly” favor keeping aid flowing. In the Big Cities, Urban Suburbs, College Towns, and African American South, all of which voted for Democrat Kamala Harris, majorities were in favor.
But there was also solid support in the Exurbs, Graying America, LDS Enclaves, and Military Posts. Trump won all those community types by more than 10 percentage points, and they all favor continuing aid to Ukraine by five percentage points or more.
The Military Posts are particularly interesting on the Ukraine issue. They are full of people who know the costs of war and people who get sent to global hot spots when the United States enters conflicts. The fact that voters in the Military Posts favor continuing Ukraine aid by 10 percentage points suggests that those with experience and, potentially with “skin in the game,” see the value in the current U.S. government strategy in the region.
Among the four community types that oppose continuing aid — the Aging Farmlands, Evangelical Hubs, Middle Suburbs, and Working Class Country — there are some notable similarities. All of them voted for Donald Trump by double-digits and none of them are a part of the larger American metropolitan culture that has experienced economic growth over the past few decades.
Three of the community types are predominantly rural. And the one that is not, the Middle Suburbs, has struggled during the last 20 years economically compared with other urban places.
Those four community types may feel a greater need for the nation to focus on “issues closer to home” as the war drags on in Europe — part of Trump’s pitch to voters.
Still, the relative strength of support in VoteCast for continuing aid to Ukraine suggests ending that aid may come with some political consequences.
As the ACP noted recently, Trump’s 2024 win seemed to be largely powered by voters’ unhappiness with the economy, not necessarily support for other Trump proposals. And the president-elect’s narrow popular vote win, a margin of about 1.6 percentage points, doesn’t leave a lot of room for losing support.