Trump transforms Republicans into War party as eye-popping number back more military strikes
While President Donald Trump campaigned against 'forever wars' during his 2024 campaign, two-thirds of Republican voters back military intervention in countries beyond Venezuela.
By NIKKI SCHWAB, CHIEF CAMPAIGN CORRESPONDENT
Published: 16:32 GMT, 9 January 2026 | Updated: 22:50 GMT, 9 January 2026
While President Donald Trump campaigned against 'forever wars' during his 2024 campaign, two-thirds of Republican voters back military intervention in countries beyond Venezuela.
New polling from the Daily Mail, conducted by J.L. Partners, showed that 67 percent of GOP registered voters supported further military intervention.
That's compared to just 25 percent of Democrats and 41 percent of independents.
Democrats were seen as the more anti-war party during the advent of the Iraq War, which was started under Republican President George W. Bush in 2003.
During this time, the Republican Party represented the more hawkish stance, which was central to the neoconservative movement.
But in recent years, Trump flipped the script, criticizing going to war with Iraq and the length of the Afghanistan conflict.
Overall, 43 percent of Americans backed more military intervention, while 42 percent said the U.S. should stay out of other countries' business.
Fifty-eight percent of Democrats said the U.S. should stay out of other countries' business, followed by 41 percent of independents and 22 percent of Republicans.
President Donald Trump is presiding over a party that supports further military involvement despite the fact that he ran on ending 'forever wars.' New Daily Mail polling found that 67 percent of Republican voters support more military strikes post-Venezuela
Among all the registered voters polled, Iran would be the top choice of where the U.S. military should intervene next, with 53 percent of Republicans in agreement.
Overnight on January 2 - ahead of the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro - Trump wrote that the U.S. was 'locked and loaded' on Iran, warning the country's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that his regime would pay a price if he murdered protesters.
In June, the U.S. took brief military action against Iran's nuclear facilities to aid Israel in its brief war with its longtime nemesis.
Twenty-five percent of those surveyed said Iran, while 18 percent said Russia and 17 percent said Cuba.
Trump has struggled to negotiate an end to the Ukraine war, something he pledged to do on day No. 1 in office.
During Saturday's press conference at Mar-a-Lago, Trump discussed Cuba but suggested no U.S. military intervention would be needed because the country's oil supply from Venezuela would be gone.