CNN pollster Harry Enten broke down the most recent polls on Monday, making it clear that even before the explosive Oval Office meeting — between President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — that Americans largely approve of the way Trump is handling the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.

Enten spoke with CNN anchor Kate Bolduan about a CBS News/YouGov poll conducted February 26-28 — mostly prior to the Trump-Zelensky meeting — and compared how Americans felt about Trump’s response to Ukraine to how they’d responded to similar polls when President Joe Biden was still in the White House.

“A little bit of a reality check for some: Trump’s net approval on Russia/Ukraine (+2) is far more positive than Biden’s was by the end (-22); The share (31% to 50%) who want a compromise in the war is way up; the share who say Russia is an enemy is way down (64% to 34%),” Enten posted, sharing a video clip of his analysis.

WATCH:

“I think sometimes, Kate, we get a little too complicated in our questions. So I think the easiest way we can kind of just ask this is, ‘Do Americans like the way that Trump’s handling his job?’ and compare it to how they felt about Joe Biden. So this is the net approval rating,” Enten began, laying out some of the numbers.

“You look at Joe Biden back in 2024, he was 22 points underwater — holy cow! You look at Donald Trump, it’s just a different planet entirely. I mean, the gulf between these two is wider than the Gulf of America or Mexico, depending on which side of the aisle you stand on. He’s at plus two!” Enten exclaimed.

“So, look, at this particular point, Americans are giving Donald Trump the benefit of the doubt. He’s doing considerably better than Joe Biden was doing on the handling of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and so on this simple question, I think Americans are saying, ‘Okay, Donald Trump is doing all right on this,’” he explained.

Bolduan pressed for more specifics, asking, “What about specifically on how they feel about bringing the war to an end?”

“Yeah, okay. So, you know, look, questions on this can be quite complicated, but I think this kind of gets at sort of where the American trend line is. Americans on the Russia-Ukraine war: ‘Want a quicker  end to the war, but Russia keeps its captured land.’ Look at this: 50%, 50% bare majority, bare majority coming in here. ‘Support Ukraine’s right to fight even if it means a long war,’ that’s at 48. This is very, very close,” Enten added.

“But the trend line on this question is so important because that ‘Want a quick end of the war,’ look at this. You go back to August of 2022, it was at 31%. Now we’re at 50%,” he continued, noting that support levels were changing dramatically as the war continued. “I mean, that is a rocket ship upwards in terms of the Americans who want a quick end to the war, even if it means Russia keeps the captured Ukraine land. Americans are moving closer and closer to wanting a compromise, even if it means that Ukraine doesn’t really get what it set out to want, at least at the beginning of this war.”

“And Americans’ views on Russia are shifting as well?” Bolduan asked.

“Absolutely. I mean one of the reasons why we’re seeing this as Americans who say ‘Russia is an enemy,’ you go back to 2023, it was 64%. In that CBS News/YouGov poll, it was down to 34%,” Enten concluded.

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CNN pollster Harry Enten broke down the most recent polls on Monday, making it clear that even before the explosive Oval Office meeting — between President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — that Americans largely approve of the way Trump is handling the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.

Enten spoke with CNN anchor Kate Bolduan about a CBS News/YouGov poll conducted February 26-28 — mostly prior to the Trump-Zelensky meeting — and compared how Americans felt about Trump’s response to Ukraine to how they’d responded to similar polls when President Joe Biden was still in the White House.

“A little bit of a reality check for some: Trump’s net approval on Russia/Ukraine (+2) is far more positive than Biden’s was by the end (-22); The share (31% to 50%) who want a compromise in the war is way up; the share who say Russia is an enemy is way down (64% to 34%),” Enten posted, sharing a video clip of his analysis.

WATCH:

“I think sometimes, Kate, we get a little too complicated in our questions. So I think the easiest way we can kind of just ask this is, ‘Do Americans like the way that Trump’s handling his job?’ and compare it to how they felt about Joe Biden. So this is the net approval rating,” Enten began, laying out some of the numbers.

“You look at Joe Biden back in 2024, he was 22 points underwater — holy cow! You look at Donald Trump, it’s just a different planet entirely. I mean, the gulf between these two is wider than the Gulf of America or Mexico, depending on which side of the aisle you stand on. He’s at plus two!” Enten exclaimed.

“So, look, at this particular point, Americans are giving Donald Trump the benefit of the doubt. He’s doing considerably better than Joe Biden was doing on the handling of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and so on this simple question, I think Americans are saying, ‘Okay, Donald Trump is doing all right on this,’” he explained.

Bolduan pressed for more specifics, asking, “What about specifically on how they feel about bringing the war to an end?”

“Yeah, okay. So, you know, look, questions on this can be quite complicated, but I think this kind of gets at sort of where the American trend line is. Americans on the Russia-Ukraine war: ‘Want a quicker  end to the war, but Russia keeps its captured land.’ Look at this: 50%, 50% bare majority, bare majority coming in here. ‘Support Ukraine’s right to fight even if it means a long war,’ that’s at 48. This is very, very close,” Enten added.

“But the trend line on this question is so important because that ‘Want a quick end of the war,’ look at this. You go back to August of 2022, it was at 31%. Now we’re at 50%,” he continued, noting that support levels were changing dramatically as the war continued. “I mean, that is a rocket ship upwards in terms of the Americans who want a quick end to the war, even if it means Russia keeps the captured Ukraine land. Americans are moving closer and closer to wanting a compromise, even if it means that Ukraine doesn’t really get what it set out to want, at least at the beginning of this war.”

“And Americans’ views on Russia are shifting as well?” Bolduan asked.

“Absolutely. I mean one of the reasons why we’re seeing this as Americans who say ‘Russia is an enemy,’ you go back to 2023, it was 64%. In that CBS News/YouGov poll, it was down to 34%,” Enten concluded.

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