American Public Opinion on Trump’s Approach to China

JULY 2025

Trump’s handling of U.S.-China relations is 13 points underwater, with more U.S. voters disapproving (51%) than approving (38%).

Key Findings

• A clear majority of voters (70%) are more concerned about growing U.S.-China tensions that could escalate into direct conflict than the U.S. not standing up strongly enough to China.

• When prioritizing their top five foreign policy goals, only 16% of Democrats, 27% of Independents, and 30% of Republicans chose “preventing China from becoming the dominant world power.”

• When ranking the most important goals for U.S.-China relations, voters chose the following, which mirror National Security Action’s September 2023 survey.

• protecting the U.S. from China’s spying, cyber attacks, and IP theft

• avoiding war

• preventing fentanyl from entering the U.S.

Messaging Guidance: Two-thirds of respondents found the following messaging on allies convincing:

• Donald Trump seems determined to alienate our closest allies — countries like Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Japan — whose support and partnership we need to accomplish our goals and deal with countries like Russia and China. His belief in going it alone and isolating the U.S. makes us less safe.

This framing outperformed other messaging on Trump making the U.S. less competitive against China, as well as allowing China to step in as the U.S. abandons global leadership.