Tipsheet

Poll: Vast Majority of Americans Support Recent U.S. Airstrikes on Syria

As the White House continues its development of the Trump Doctrine, a majority of Americans support President Trump's decision to send airstrikes into Syrian in response to President Basher al-Assad's recent chemical weapons attack on civilians. 

From a new Morning Consult/POLITICO poll

Regardless of how voters view Assad’s position, the airstrikes Trump ordered in retaliation to the Syrian president were supported by 66 percent of voters, while about a quarter (24 percent) opposed them.

Further, the majority of Americans believe the United States should be more involved in ending the civil war between civilians and the Assad government. A majority supports the U.S. setting up a no-fly zone in certain parts of Syria to weaken Assad and wants the United Nations to do more to stop civilian bloodshed. 

Americans have different views on how the U.S. should conduct its foreign policy in Syria. Seven in 10 voters want more economic sanctions, while 57 percent support airstrikes in Syria and cyberattacks against Assad’s military. Nearly 6 in 10 (58 percent) said they support establishing a no-fly zone over parts of Syria, including targeted airstrikes against Syrian air defense systems.

Despite their lack of confidence in the U.N. to take the right steps, 74 percent of Americans want it to do more. More than 6 in 10 (63 percent) of Americans also think the U.S. should do more, while 18 percent think it should do less.

Yesterday, President Trump said he has no plans to send ground troops into Syria but has not taken additional airstrikes, depending on Assad's behavior, off of the table.

Earlier this week, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson gave Russia a stern warning about its continued support of the Assad regime and confidently stated the end of his reign in the near future.