Americans left divided after Trump gives Ukraine the cold shoulder

Donald Trump's attack on on the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as a "dictator", while cosying up to the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, might have alarmed US allies abroad.

- Joan E Greve Washington

But this indication that traditional US security support for Europe is waning has prompted a more starkly divided response among ordinary Americans at home.

Reflecting the country's deeply partisan attitude to the new president and his "America first" foreign policy doctrine, polling suggests that Republicans are much more likely to oppose additional help for Ukraine.

A Pew Research Center survey this month found 47% of Republicans but just 14% of Democrats thought the US was providing too much support to Ukraine; views that have changed dramatically since the war began in 2022, when just 7% of all American adults 9% of Republicans and 5% of Democrats - said the US was providing too much support to Ukraine.

Many voters on the left say Trump's comments make them fearful that the president's stance towards Ukraine could further embolden Putin and jeopardise national security.