The claim that the vast majority of Americans did not support Ukraine in a poll allegedly conducted by Trump on the social network X is false. Such polls on social platforms are not representative, and the account referred to by the propaganda does not even belong to Donald Trump. The propaganda selectively highlighted only negative comments and presented them as the dominant opinion of users.
Social media users and pro-Kremlin Telegram channels have circulated information suggesting that the vast majority of Americans do not support Ukraine. This conclusion was allegedly based on the responses to a poll by newly elected US President Donald Trump on the X social network. To support their claim, they attached screenshots of “completely negative” responses.
After this information went viral, StopFake investigated whether 95% of Americans in this poll really opposed continued support for Ukraine. The results showed that this claim is untrue. Several factors prove this:
The @realTrumpNewsX account on X cited in the propaganda does not belong to Donald Trump. This is explicitly stated in the account description: “Not affiliated with @realdonaldtrump,” which is the newly elected president’s official account. Trump’s official page has over 97 million followers and posts much more formal messages compared to @realTrumpNewsX.
The screenshots shared by the propagandists are edited to show only negative responses. A closer look reveals their selective nature, as the responses were posted at different times. For example, one response was posted 9 hours before the screenshot, the next 1 hour before, and another 8 hours before.
StopFake conducted its own analysis of this poll to compare the number of comments “for” and “against” supporting Ukraine. The analysis reviewed 2,500 consecutive comments posted to the “poll” between 9:59 am on January 13 and 3:22 pm on January 14. Only comments explicitly supporting or opposing Ukraine were included. The results showed 648 responses “for” and 583 comments “against”. While these numbers – like the poll itself – are not representative, they clearly indicate a dominant number of supportive voices.
It is important to note that the responses to the poll on the @realTrumpNewsX account do not reflect the opinion of Americans, as propaganda claims. Anyone can comment on the social network, and although the page is not an official account of Donald Trump, it primarily represents the voices of his supporters and followers of his policies. On the other hand, real research shows that American support for Ukraine increased in 2024 compared to 2023. The Pearson Institute/AP-NORC poll found that in October 2023, 52% of Americans thought the U.S. was spending too much on aid to Ukraine, 31% thought the spending was appropriate, and 15% thought it was insufficient. By September 2024, only 34% of respondents thought the U.S. was spending too much, 39% said the spending was appropriate, and 21% said it was insufficient, according to Voice of America.
Previously, StopFake debunked claims that the Americans had supposedly “sharply changed their position” on negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.
