Forty-five percent of voters support increasing U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan. | Wakil Koshar/Getty Images Poll: Voters split on Afghanistan troop increase, oppose shutdown for border wall

Voters are divided on President Donald Trump’s plans to send more American troops to Afghanistan, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll.

Forty-five percent of voters support increasing U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan, the poll shows — only slightly greater than the 41 percent who oppose the plan. The other 14 percent have no opinion.


While support for Trump’s plan marginally outpaces opposition, the 20 percent of voters strongly opposed to a troop increase are slightly greater than the 17 percent who strongly support it.

Backing for a troop increase is greater among Republicans than Democrats or independents. Sixty-eight percent of self-identified GOP voters support increasing the number of troops in Afghanistan, but only 30 percent of Democratic voters and 35 percent of independents agree.

Similarly, Republicans are more bullish on how the war is going. Thirty-eight percent of Republicans say the United States is winning the war in Afghanistan, compared with 19 percent of Democrats and 17 percent of independents. Overall, 24 percent of voters think the United States is winning the Afghanistan War, while 40 percent think it is losing.

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Half of voters agree with Trump’s refusal to announce how many troops he is adding to the war effort “so as not to alert our enemies overseas,” according to the poll. Just 34 percent think the president should “reveal specific plans to the American people, who have the right to debate the best course of action.”

Trump laid out his plans for Afghanistan in a speech last week at Fort Myer, in Arlington, Virginia. But it was his comments the next day at a political event in Phoenix that caught the attention of many on Capitol Hill.

At the Aug. 22 campaign-style rally, Trump suggested he wouldn’t sign a bill to keep the government running past the end of next month if Congress didn’t fund construction of a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

“If we have to close down our government, we’re building that wall,” Trump said. “We’re going to have our wall. The American people voted for immigration control. We’re going to get that wall.”

But the POLITICO/Morning Consult poll shows little appetite for a government shutdown — wall or no wall. Only 28 percent of voters support a government shutdown to force Congress to pay for the border wall, compared with 61 percent who oppose a shutdown, including 48 percent who strongly oppose closing the government to get funding for the wall.

With voters lined up 2-to-1 against shutting down the government for the border wall, that means Trump’s core supporters aren’t unified behind the effort.

“While there is general support for increased border-wall funding among Trump voters, the base is split on whether it’s important enough to warrant a shutdown,” said Kyle Dropp, Morning Consult’ co-founder and chief research officer. “Fifty percent of Trump voters support a shutdown over the wall, and 40 percent oppose that proposition. Given how strong opposition is on the left, it’s not clear this is a winning issue for Trump to focus on.”

In general, voters don’t like the idea of using the threat of a government shutdown to extract concessions. Only 16 percent say members of Congress “should allow a temporary government shutdown if it helps them achieve their policy goals.” Sixty-nine percent think members of Congress “should take all necessary steps to avoid a government shutdown” and instead “should achieve their policy goals another way.”

Congressional leaders go into the upcoming September fights over funding the government and raising the nation’s debt limit with low approval ratings, the POLITICO/Morning Consult poll shows.

Trump’s intra-party war with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has left the Kentuckian with low approval ratings: Only 28 percent of voters approve of his job performance, compared with 44 percent who disapprove. Among GOP voters, 40 percent approve of McConnell and 36 percent disapprove.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Paul Ryan and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi — who has the highest disapproval rating, at 47 percent — all have approval ratings greater than 30 percent.

Trump’s approval ratings remain low, too. Only 40 percent of voters approve of the job he is doing as president — one point better than his all-time low of 39 percent last week. Fifty-five percent of voters disapprove.

The poll was conducted Aug. 24-28, surveying 1,999 registered voters. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 2 percentage points.

Morning Consult is a nonpartisan media and technology company that provides data-driven research and insights on politics, policy and business strategy.

More details on the poll and its methodology can be found in these two documents — Toplines: http://politi.co/2wfQY9o | Crosstabs: http://politi.co/2wmyVgt