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Less than half of Americans think US can win armed conflict — poll

Overall, the Ronald Reagan Institute found that Americans’ trust in the US Armed Forces has fallen significantly over the past seven years

NEW YORK, December 4. /TASS/. Less than half of Americans believe that the United States can win an armed conflict either overseas or on their territory, a poll conducted by the Ronald Reagan Institute revealed.

According to the survey, 49% of Americans believe that the US military can win a conflict overseas, while 45% of respondents think that the US military can defend the country in the event of an attack.

Overall, the Ronald Reagan Institute found that Americans’ trust in the US Armed Forces has fallen significantly over the past seven years. According to the 2025 poll, 49% of respondents said they have "a great deal of confidence" in the military, down 21 percentage points since 2018.

Policy Director at the Ronald Reagan Institute Rachel Hoff told Fox News that the decline in trust in the Pentagon is being observed among US citizens of all political stripes and ages. "It all has to do with something around kind of the politicization of the military. The American people really want to keep politics out of the military and keep the military focused on its core warfighting mission," she said.

The survey was conducted from October 23 to November 3, 2025, with more than 2,500 American citizens participating. The margin of error was 1.96 percentage points.

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