Nearly half of Ukrainians trust Trump, new poll reports

KYIV — Some 44.6 percent of Ukrainians trust United States President-elect Donald Trump, according to a new national poll commissioned by New Europe Center NGO, published on Tuesday. This comes despite Trump’s threats to halt aid to Ukraine, force it to make a deal with Russia and pull out of NATO.

In 2023, only 10 percent of Ukrainians preferred Trump over current U.S. President Joe Biden, whereas 78 percent favored Biden over Trump. Now, some 55 percent said they still trust Biden, the report, which surveyed 1,000 Ukrainians in mid- to late-November, notes.

“This high level of support shows Ukraine expects clearer and more decisive policy towards Ukraine from the new U.S. administration,” the NGO said in a statement. “It cannot be ruled out that some respondents have certain hopes for the restoration of peace in Ukraine, which Trump emphasized during his election campaign.”

Trump has said he will end the war in Ukraine in just one day once he is installed in office, and has appointed retired Gen. Keith Kellogg as special envoy to Ukraine.

In June, Kellogg unveiled a Ukraine policy plan that, among other things, conditioned further U.S. aid on Kyiv’s participation in peace talks with Moscow. However, most Ukrainians — 64.1 percent — were skeptical about negotiations with Russia, the survey found.

On Western support for Ukraine, respondents were divided. Just over half — 57.2 percent — said they believe that Western partners are not doing enough to ensure Ukraine’s victory, while 40 percent said they are convinced Western leaders are doing everything possible.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Polish President Andrzej Duda were the most trusted world leaders among Ukrainians, with both scoring 65 percent.

The survey’s authors attribute the trust in Duda to tradition, likely stemming from Polish support for Ukraine in the first year of the Russian invasion and its advocacy efforts on Kyiv’s behalf within the EU.

For von der Leyen’s part, the report notes that the Commission president’s “undisputed leadership in securing key decisions for Ukraine at the EU level” and efforts to promote Ukraine’s path to EU membership are visible to ordinary Ukrainians.

However, the report notes a drop in the level of trust in general: French President Emmanuel Macron was the only Western leader with whom respondents had more trust than last year, the rest all saw a decline.

“It seems that Ukrainians have not overlooked Macron’s efforts to change the Western strategy to support Ukraine, such as his clear position on inviting Ukraine to join NATO, the French leader’s initiative to send military components to Ukraine,” the survey says.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz together with Biden suffered the worst loss in credibility, dropping by 25 and 27 percentage points respectively.