More than a third of potential Republican voters want the party's next standard-bearer to move in a different direction than President Donald Trump, according to a new poll released Tuesday.
Thirty-seven percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents said the GOP’s 2028 presidential nominee shouldn't follow Trump's lead, including 60% of those aged 18 to 44, the New York Times/Siena poll found. Voters who identified themselves as Republicans were more likely to support Trump's positions, by a ratio of 65% to 26%, but a majority of Republican-leaning independents opposed his overall leadership, 55% to 40%.
On specific issues, 38% of those surveyed wanted a new course regarding relations with Israel, with 32% and 31% favouring the same for Iran and Russia, respectively. Thirty-one percent also wanted the next GOP nominee to abandon Trump's stand on tariffs.
Regarding Trump's decision to go to war against Iran, 62% called it the right move and 68% predicted it would eliminate Iran's nuclear programme. However, only 43% believed the war would be worth the costs, which include 14 U.S. service members killed and 406 wounded in action, according to a Tuesday tally by the Pentagon.
Nathan Coletti, 49, of Rock Springs, Wyoming, told the New York Times that he voted for Trump in 2024 but wanted the president more focused on improving America's economy. “Unfortunately, now we’re fighting a war that, to be honest, I have no idea why we’re there,” he said. “And I would tell you that I am actually embarrassed that I voted for him.”
The conflict, which began Feb. 28, has been in a fragile ceasefire since early April. The New York Times/Siena poll surveyed 1,507 registered voters nationwide from May 11-15, with a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.
