A majority of MAGA Republicans say keeping the US in NATO is important, the survey found

A majority of Americans, including a majority of Republicans and self-described MAGA Republicans, say keeping the United States in NATO is important to the country’s security and prosperity, according to a new poll.

The Reagan Institute Summer Survey found that 73% of Americans say staying in NATO matters to US security and prosperity, including 64% of Republicans and 61% of MAGA Republicans. Fox News Digital has obtained a preview of the survey, which will be made public on Sunday.

The poll also found bipartisan support for NATO’s joint defense policy. After respondents were told that NATO members have a responsibility to defend each other if attacked, 76% of Democrats, 71% of Republicans and 69% of MAGA Republicans said they would support the US responding with military force if a NATO ally is attacked.

The findings come as President Donald Trump continues to pressure NATO allies to shoulder more of the alliance’s collective defense responsibility. During a White House meeting on Wednesday with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, Trump criticized several European allies for what he described as inadequacies during recent US operations against Iran, as Rutte praised Trump’s leadership and praised him for pushing NATO members to increase defense spending.

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The Reagan Institute Summer Survey was conducted May 26 through June 3 among 1,555 respondents nationwide and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points. The survey used a mixed-mode approach that included live telephone interviews, an online panel and text-to-web responses.

To better reflect the US population, results were averaged using demographic benchmarks from the US Census Bureau’s 2023 American Community Survey, including age, gender, race, region and education levels. The poll also included an oversample of 331 MAGA Republicans under the age of 30, a group with a margin of error of plus or minus 5 points.

The Reagan Institute Summer Survey found that 73% of Americans say staying in NATO matters to US security and prosperity, including 64% of Republicans and 61% of MAGA Republicans. (Handout / Latin America News Agency via Reuters Connect)

The Reagan Institute is a Washington-based policy organization that promotes the Reagan foreign policy tradition of “peace with strength” and continued American leadership abroad.

Trump met with Rutte on Wednesday, who also praised the US president during their meeting at the White House.

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“I want to make it clear how important what you are doing in Iran,” Rutte told Trump. “This starts with the nuclear power that Iran was so close to getting its hands on,”

Trump, for his part, has criticized several European allies for what he described as insufficient action during US operations against Iran.

NATO’s collective defense policy, known as Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, has been invoked only once in the alliance’s 77-year history. NATO allies unanimously agreed to invoke this system after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, declaring an attack on the United States an attack on all members of the alliance. (Ben Stansall/Pool via Reuters)

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“I was disappointed with Italy. I was disappointed with the UK,” he said. “We are disappointed with Germany and France. We are disappointed with most of them. Spain is a scary program.”

“We don’t need their money, we don’t need anything. We have the most powerful military in the world, but I just want to be honest,” Trump said.

NATO’s collective defense policy, known as Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, has been invoked only once in the alliance’s 77-year history. NATO allies unanimously agreed to invoke this system after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, declaring an attack on the United States an attack on all members of the alliance.

Trump has long criticized NATO members for failing to meet the alliance’s defense spending commitments – at times even threatening to pull out of the alliance – saying the US is shouldering the worst of its security burden.

In both his first and second terms, he pushed his allies to dramatically increase military spending while warning that the US should not shoulder the cost of Europe’s defense alone.

The White House and NATO could not be reached for comment.