More Americans than not say Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wasn’t disrespectful to President Trump during their contentious Oval Office meeting late last month, according to a new poll.
The survey from The Economist/YouGov released Wednesday found that 46 percent of U.S. adults said Zelensky wasn’t disrespectful, while 32 percent said he was. Meanwhile, most respondents said Trump was disrespectful to Zelensky, with 51 percent saying so and 29 percent saying he wasn’t.
About 20 percent on both questions said they weren’t sure.
The results were clearly split along party and ideological lines. More than seven in 10 Trump 2024 voters said Zelensky was disrespectful, while 85 percent of voters for former Vice President Harris said he wasn’t.
Almost nine in 10 Harris voters said Trump was disrespectful, while 68 percent of Trump voters said he wasn’t, though 17 percent said he was.
The results come after the U.S. resumed military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine on Tuesday after a temporary suspension of assistance following the tense meeting between Trump and Zelensky.
The meeting with the two leaders and Vice President Vance in February began cordially but became confrontational after Vance suggested that Zelensky reach a diplomatic solution with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war.
Vance challenged Zelensky over whether he expressed thanks to the U.S. for its support, and Zelensky maintained that he had expressed gratitude on many occasions, including that day. Trump called Zelensky “disrespectful” and declared that he could cause World War III and was “not ready for peace.”
A scheduled press conference between Trump and Zelensky planned for after their meeting was cancelled, and Zelensky left the White House, signaling an end to negotiations.
The suspended aid and intelligence sharing was restored after bilateral talks took place in Saudi Arabia and Ukraine expressed “readiness” to accept a 30-day ceasefire proposal. A joint statement said the U.S. would express to Russia that it must also agree to the proposal.
The developments of the past few weeks come after months of mounting tensions between Zelensky and Trump and others in the GOP who have become increasingly skeptical of continued U.S. aid for Ukraine.
The poll found a plurality of respondents have a favorable opinion of Zelensky, with 43 percent viewing him positively and 36 percent viewing him negatively. But respondents were split on the best path forward with supporting Ukraine.
A quarter said the U.S. should increase the amount of aid to Ukraine, 22 percent said it should stay the same, 15 percent said it should decrease and 21 percent said all aid should stop.
The poll was conducted from March 9 to 11 among 1,699 U.S. adults. The margin of error was 3.2 points.
