Poll: Voters don't want U.S. military to address internal threats

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(The Center Square) – Half of Republicans said the president should only send troops to face external threats as President Donald Trump prepares to use National Guard troops in more Democrat-run cities, according to a new poll.

Among all adults, 58% of Americans said the president should only use troops for external threats, according to a new poll from Reuters/Ipsos. Among Democrats, that number jumped to 72%. Among Republicans, 51% said the president should only use troops for outside threats.

Some 37% of adults said the president should be able to send troops into a state even if its governor objects. Among Democrats, 13% said the president should be able to send troops over the governor's objection. Among Republicans, that number shot up to 70%.

Most Americans want the U.S. military to remain politically neutral, regardless of their party affiliation. Among all adults, 83% said the U.S. military should stay neutral.

Reuters/Ipsos polled 1,154 U.S. adults on behalf of the news outlet from Oct. 3-7, 2025.

President Donald Trump sent National Guard troops to Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., earlier this year. This week, he sent troops to Portland and Chicago. 

Illinois officials have already filed a lawsuit over Trump's plan to federalize the National Guard. Similar suits brought in other states remain pending. 

The showdown in Chicago comes with heated rhetoric all its own. On Wednesday, Trump called for Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker to be jailed. 

Trump has said crime is out of control in Chicago and other cities and elected officials aren't addressing the crime problems. Chicago leaders say Trump is part of the problem.

Pritzker responded with a post on X.

"Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power. What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?" Pritzker wrote.

Johnson said "Chicago will not be intimidated."

Trump has been engaged in a war of words with Pritzker and Johnson for weeks over his administration's enforcement of federal immigration law and the migrant sanctuary policies favored by Democrats in Chicago and across Illinois.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Justice sued elected officials in Illinois over so-called sanctuary policies. The state of Illinois and the city of Chicago have said they won't work with federal officials to enforce immigration laws.  

Last week, a federal judge tossed the DOJ's lawsuit against Pritzker, Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson for failure to state a claim and lack of standing.

"Once again, the anticommandeering doctrine is at play," U.S. District Court Judge Lindsay Jenkins said. "As explained, the Sanctuary Policies reflect Defendants' decision to not participate in enforcing civil immigration law – a decision protected by the Tenth Amendment and not preempted by the [Immigration and Nationality Act]."

The federal government could appeal that ruling.