Despite the longest government shutdown in U.S. history occurring this October, American foreign policy remained as dynamic as ever. In the Middle East, the United States has worked to uphold the tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that led to the return of all 20 living Israeli hostages held by Hamas. President Trump undertook a whirlwind trip to Asia for the first time in his second term to meet with Indo-Pacific leaders including Xi Jinping, and he also hosted Ukrainian President Zelenskyy in the Oval Office. A year after President Trump’s landmark election victory, Trump voters are assessing the degree to which he has kept his promise to promote “Peace Through Strength." The key takeaway— Trump voters love American power and appreciate when President Trump is not afraid to use it.

For the fifth month in a row, The Vandenberg Coalition and GOP polling firm TargetPoint surveyed Trump voters to gauge their perspectives on salient foreign policy challenges. This month, our poll ran from October 22–28, 2025, and surveyed 1,216 Trump voters on their assessment of President Trump’s progress on his campaign promises a year after his historic election victory—namely, confronting the China challenge, achieving favorable peace in the Middle East and Europe, and bolstering American national defense. This is the fifth installment of our monthly polling project, Americans First: Polling the People, which seeks to gain insights on how President Trump’s base is thinking about the foreign policy issues defining his presidency.

The message from the Trump base is clear: The pragmatic use of American power abroad keeps Americans secure at home.

With an 82 percent approval rating overall, President Trump’s foreign policy remains very popular with his voters, but they especially approve when he takes tough action against our adversaries. In particular, Trump voters have been enthralled with his work to modernize the U.S. military and bring peace to the Middle East by standing up to adversaries like Iran and Hamas. 86 percent of Trump voters support his peace plan to end the Israel-Hamas war, and 90 percent continue to state the importance of not letting Iran obtain a nuclear weapon. Further, 91 percent of self-identified MAGA conservatives support increased defense spending, with 79 percent of Trump voters satisfied with President Trump’s progress on this front.

If anything, his voters want to see more strength and action, including taking a more aggressive to counter the Chinese Communist Party. Specifically, Trump’s base is still vigilant about the TikTok threat; 92 percent of respondents maintain concerns about TikTok following the announcement of the deal between the Trump administration and ByteDance, with 66 percent of Trump voters responding that the public has a right to know the terms of the deal. They know we cannot trust Xi and want the details of the TikTok deal made public. Trump voters also continue to support putting more pressure on Russia to end Putin’s war against Ukraine, with 76 percent of respondents indicating that they support sanctioning Russian energy exports—a consistent figure dating back to June 2025.

You can read about the poll on our website, and in our newsletter. Be sure to follow us on X to not miss new monthly results!