2026 Reagan Institute Summer Survey

President Ronald Reagan believed that U.S. leadership in the world—backed by American strength—was the surest guarantor of peace. As the nation celebrates its 250th birthday, the 2026 Reagan Institute Summer Survey finds that the American people still hold to the core of that conviction. Americans want the United States to lead in the world. They say a strong military is essential to keeping the peace. And they believe that the United States has been a force for good in the world over its 250 years.

This survey also sounds a warning: the bipartisan consensus that has underpinned America’s global leadership is showing signs of polarization. For most of the past decade, Democrats and Republicans differed only modestly on the degree of their belief in an internationalist foreign policy. This year, that has changed. Democratic support for U.S. leadership and for the benefits of American engagement has cooled sharply, while Republican support has held firm. The polarization cuts both ways: on NATO, Republicans have grown more skeptical, while Democratic support has held firm. Americans have not abandoned global leadership, but positions once shared across the aisle are at risk of becoming the domain of one party at a time—depending on who occupies the White House.

Yet this survey also uncovers areas where bipartisan support for U.S. foreign policy goals remains firm. Americans of both parties see the threat from China with remarkable clarity—and increasingly as a danger to their own communities rather than a distant abstraction. Majorities across the political spectrum still believe in America’s moral obligation to stand up for freedom abroad. And younger Americans, despite registering lower concern about many foreign threats, are among the most enthusiastic supporters of U.S. global engagement. The task for today’s leaders is to recognize that the consensus behind American leadership is not self-sustaining—and to make the case for it anew.

The MAGA Movement’s Next Generation

The 2026 Reagan Institute Summer Survey tested the narrative that younger members of the MAGA movement are more skeptical of American engagement abroad, commissioning an oversample of self-identified MAGA Republicans under the age of 30. On nearly every measure, young MAGA Republicans hold the same foreign policy views as the movement as a whole: a rejection of isolationism and a commitment to America’s leadership role on the global stage. Almost three-quarters (72%) of MAGA Republicans under 30 want the United States to be more engaged and take the lead in international events, against just 19% who prefer to pull back—a margin of nearly four to one. Eighty-five percent agree that a strong military is essential to peace and prosperity. These are not the markings of a generation wanting America to retreat from the world. They are the convictions of a cohort that, like the rest of the MAGA movement, believes American strength and engagement serve both the nation and the cause of freedom.

On today's most pressing geopolitical challenges, young MAGA Republicans land where the rest of the movement does. On Iran, clear majorities of each group approve of this year's U.S. military actions (73% of those under 30, 89% of all MAGA Republicans), and majorities of each call preventing a nuclear-armed Iran a matter of consequence to American security (75% and 89%, respectively). On Israel, majorities in both groups affirm that the country's security matters to the United States (63% and 80%) and support sending it U.S. weapons (60% and 73%). On China, solid majorities of both share concern about Beijing's military buildup (66% and 85%), its theft of American technology (67% and 83%), and its role in the flow of fentanyl into the United States (70% and 88%). And on Taiwan, majorities again align: both say the island's security matters (65% and 77%) and worry about a Chinese attempt to seize it by force (63% and 80%). The gap between the two groups is real, but it is an age story, not a MAGA one. Across the survey, younger Americans, regardless of party, register less concern about foreign threats and hold their views less intensely than older Americans. The notable finding is that, even against that generational tendency, majorities of young MAGA Republicans still come down on the side of American leadership abroad.

On alliances, young MAGA Republicans go further still. Young MAGA Republicans view NATO more favorably than MAGA Republicans overall (62% to 48%) and are more likely to say keeping the United States in the alliance matters to American security (70% to 61%). On responding with military force if a NATO ally is attacked—the principle at the heart of the alliance—the two groups are identical, each at 69%.

Younger MAGA Republicans are, however, more cautious about the more forceful instruments of American power and warier of their costs. They are more likely to worry that tariffs could cost jobs close to home (53% versus 35% of all MAGA). And they are more divided over how the United States should meet emerging threats: while a majority of MAGA Republicans overall (72%) say the country is better off acting decisively before threats grow larger, young MAGA Republicans split more narrowly: 52% favor acting decisively, while 45% favor showing restraint, lest decisive action create larger problems down the road—nearly double the 25% of all MAGA who say the same. These are the differences of a cohort weighing the means of leadership, not one questioning whether to lead at all.