Most Michigan voters want US to remain in NATO, arm Ukraine in war, poll shows

DETROIT — A super-majority of Michigan voters ― nearly 77% ― support the United States staying in the NATO alliance, according to a new statewide poll, with 54% "strongly" behind the country remaining in the 75-year-old pact that former President Donald Trump previously threatened to leave or pull back from if reelected.

The survey of 600 likely Michigan voters found just 12% of respondents opposed staying in NATO, and 11% were unsure or neutral on the question.

The poll commissioned by The Detroit News and WDIV-TV (Channel 4) was conducted by live telephone operators from Aug. 26-29 and had a margin of error of plus-minus 4 percentage points.

"On this very issue, Donald Trump is deeply out of touch with Michigan voters," said pollster Richard Czuba, founder of the Glengariff Group that conducted the survey.

"He can get away with saying this because, well, voters aren't really focused on this — it isn't something that is ranking in their top five issues. But at the same time, I was struck how just completely out of the mainstream of Michigan thought he is on this issue."

Trump campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Democrats and media "war-mongers" have forgotten that "we had four years of peace and prosperity under President Trump, but Europe saw death and destruction under Obama-Biden and now more death and destruction under Biden-Harris."

"President Trump got our allies to increase their NATO spending by demanding they pay up, but Kamala Harris and Joe Biden went back to letting them take advantage of the American taxpayer," Leavitt said in a statement. "When President Trump returns to the Oval Office, he will restore peace and rebuild American strength and deterrence on the world stage.”

Notably, there's significant support for remaining in NATO from within Trump's party, with 59% of base Republican voters and 71% of voters who lean to the GOP backing the U.S. sticking with the pact. Nearly 27% of base GOP voters polled said they would leave NATO, according to the survey.

The poll found even higher support for NATO among Michigan Democratic voters, with 96% of base Democrats in support. Self-identified independent voters in Michigan also back the trans-Atlantic military alliance 71% to 12%, the survey found.

Michelle Zoli, 51, of Grand Rapids, participated in the poll and said she supports NATO. She works for a health care organization as a financial counselor and office supervisor at a skilled nursing facility.

"We are more and more a global community, and we need to have allies in other parts of the world. This is one of the oldest organizations, and (has) been an organization for peace. I believe that America should remain loyal to its friends and allies across the world," said Zoli, who generally votes Democratic.

"I think a lot of the arguments that Mr. Trump made for trying to not wanting to participate or getting out of NATO were misguided, ill-informed or he just made it up to sound good to his base."

Samuel Kenney, 73, a retired construction worker from Tipton who took part in the poll, said he opposes staying in NATO, in part because he doesn’t see enough participation from European allies.

“We’re the only one who shows up when there’s a battle going on, except maybe England. And we foot the bill,” Kenney said. “We’re paying for far more than our fair share and losing young men in the process.”

Kenney said he'd reevaluate when other countries started carrying their weight, "but right now, they’re putting it off on us."

Trump has long called on European allies to significantly boost their military defense spending on NATO, claiming that U.S. taxpayers are subsidizing European and Canadian "welfare states." As of this summer, 23 of 32 NATO members are meeting the 2% spending target, up from six countries in 2021.

Last week in Detroit, the former president repeated a story he tells from his time as president when he told top European leaders that he wouldn't defend NATO countries if they are “delinquent” in devoting 2% of gross domestic product to defense.

"'Does that mean if we don't pay you, you're not going to defend us against Russia?' I said, 'That's what it means,'" Trump recalled before a gathering of National Guard officers from across the country meeting in Detroit.

"If I said, 'Yes, I will defend you,' they're not going to pay. What happened is hundreds of billions of dollars came pouring in."

Trump's remarks to a campaign rally in March led to an uproar after he said he would encourage Russia "to do whatever the hell they want" to a NATO member that wasn't spending enough on defense.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at the time slammed Trump's comments, arguing they undermine the credibility of NATO’s collective security commitment known as Article 5, which says an attack on any NATO member nation will be met with a response from all NATO members.

Support for aiding Ukraine

Last month, Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris criticized Trump's threat to "abandon" NATO in her speech to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago and said she would stand by the alliance.

Harris said she met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to warn him just days before Russia's invasion in February 2022.

"As president, I will stand strong with Ukraine and our NATO allies," Harris said.

The Michigan survey found 52% of voters support the U.S. continuing to provide military assistance to Ukraine in its war with Russia, while 37% opposed such aid. The margin is nearly identical to a similar poll question asked in a January survey of likely Michigan voters (52% to 37.5%).

However, the responses tended to vary based on the voter's partisan leanings, with strong backing for Ukraine among Democrats and GOP voters largely opposed. Independent voters are split 44% in support and 41% against.

"There's been no change in these numbers since January. Where people were is where they are now," pollster Czuba said. "And the majority of Michiganders say we should be helping Ukraine. And who opposes it? It's only Republicans."

Trump last week in Detroit warned of "World War III" but said, if he's elected in November, he would have the war between Russia and Ukraine settled "very fast."

'Hitler wasn't satisfied with Poland'

Pamela Slagh, 79, of Grand Rapids participated in the survey and said the U.S. should “definitely” retain its NATO membership and continue support for Ukraine. She used to vote Republican but has supported Democrats in recent years, she said.

"We belong to a church that has supported Ukraine for a long time. We have friends who have gone over there to help with orphanages and other things. If we don’t help them, who is going to help them?" Slagh said.

"If you let Russia have Ukraine, what’s their next step going to be? They’re not just going to be satisfied with Ukraine. Just like Hitler wasn’t satisfied with just Poland. … We have to support countries like that."

Ricci Horst, 56, of Detroit a self-employed subcontractor in the construction industry, said he is against any further military aid to Ukraine from the U.S.

"That’s a losing war. All it’s going to do is get us involved in another war with Russia. It's just a bad idea," said Horst, who took part in the poll. "It’s not that I back Putin, but it’s just common sense. There’s a lot of corruption over in these third-world countries."

Horst, who said he's voting for Trump in November, said he does support the U.S. staying in NATO, as long as the other member nations pay their "fair share."

"We got a lot of others who aren't paying," he said. "They are taking advantage of the United States, and a lot of people are tired of these countries taking advantage of the United States."

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