Trump's Trials - Many Americans say the U.S. is not a moral leader but want it to be: NPR/Ipsos poll

Episode Date: January 9, 2026

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You're listening to Trump's terms from NPR. I'm Scott Detrow. We're under invasion from within. If you're not going to protect your citizens, President Trump will. We all serve at the pleasure of the president. The golden age of America is upon us. We are in the golden age. Every episode of Trump's terms, we bring you NPR's latest coverage of the 47th president.

With a focus on actions and policies he is pursuing on his own terms and in the process, taking the presidency into uncharted territory. Today's story starts right after this. Tommy Martinez in Los Angeles, California. And I'm Steve Inskeep in Washington, D.C. Good morning. After the United States seized Venezuela's leader, President Trump sat for a long interview with the New York Times.

Asked about what, if anything, restrains him in foreign policy? Trump said only, quote, My own morality, my own mind. A new NPR-IPSOS poll out today found that Americans across the political spectrum want the U.S. to be the moral leader of the world, but far fewer believe it actually is. NPR's Frank Lankfit has been reading the numbers.

Hey there, Frank. Hey, Steve. What do you see in this survey? Well, movement in public opinion. We've asked this question before. Back in 2017, a strong majority of people, 60%, they saw the U.S. as the moral leader of the world. That's now down to just 39%.

Also, in the last decade, you've seen more people believing in thinking that the U.S. foreign policy should really benefit America, and Americans, Republicans feel especially strongly about that. And then Democrats, by contrast, they're a lot more focused on supporting democracy and human rights overseas. What did you hear when you talk with some of the people who took this poll? Well, one thing is that one thing's really interesting is half of the people thought the U.S.

is losing influence in the world. And on the morality question, I talked to this woman, Suzanne Watson, she's a retired nurse. She lives out in Colorado. She's a political independent. This is what she said. until Trump was elected, we were doing okay. I certainly wouldn't call us the moral leader. We were bullies. We did fairly awful things. But we did a lot of good. And at least on the surface, we tried. And I think that's all given up. Frank, I just want to note that this NPR episode's poll was conducted back in December. Events are moving so rapidly that already seems like a long time ago. Very fast. Any idea about what people think about America's attack on Venezuela?

Yeah, well, there was a separate Ipsos poll out this week, and people are split on removing Maduro. One third, four, one third against, one third weren't sure. And this is part of a larger division, I think, that we're seeing on foreign policy these days. Yesterday, I also, I drove up to a Trump merchandise store up north of Philadelphia, and I talked about a half dozen customers there. All of them, Steve, strongly support Trump's policies overseas. They seem as bold and assertive. There's this guy named Wes Alker.

He's 70 years old, a retired automobile mechanic. This is what he told me. I think that what he did in Iran was a masterpiece. What really, really surprised me was what he did in Venezuela. Holy moly. I heard about it. I got up from off the couch and I danced. We got someone in the Oval Office with freaking balls.

Okay. But did any Trump supporters express skepticism about Venezuela? They did. There's a guy named David Harris that I talked to. he voted for Trump twice. He works in electronic and TV repair down Alabama. And he's 55. He'd like to retire.

But he says it's really hard in this economy. And I asked him if he were talking to the president, what would he say to him? I'd tell him to put America first like he promised he was going to do and stop worrying about these rich companies and oil and other countries and concentrating more on our economy and helping the people of this country, regardless if they're rich or poor, and not Venezuelans. And Steve, when I was talking to Harris, he also said that the first thing he thought

when he heard about Maduro and the Americans going into Venezuela, is he thought this is not what I voted for. Amazing. Kind of a Rorschach test, people measuring Trump against their ideas of what Trump should have been. NPR's Frank Link. Indeed.

NPR's Frank Linkman. Thanks so much. Happy to do it, Steve. Before we wrap up, a reminder, you can find more coverage of the Trump administration on the NPR Politics Podcast, where you can hear NPR's political reporters break down the day's biggest political news with new episodes every weekday afternoon.

And thanks, as always, to our NPR Plus supporters who hear every episode of the show without sponsor messages. You can learn more at plus.npr.org. I'm Scott Detrow. Thanks for listening to Trump's terms from NPR.