Americans are split over how involved the United States should be in governing Venezuela and whether U.S. companies should have access to the country’s oil reserves, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. This comes after a U.S. military operation captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in early January.
Americans also have relatively low confidence in President Donald Trump to make wise decisions about U.S. policy toward Venezuela.
Republicans and Democrats (including those who lean toward each party) have sharply different views on all of these questions.
Confidence in Trump on Venezuela
| Not at all confident | Not too confident | Somewhat confident | Very confident | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| % who are ___ that Donald Trump can make wise decisions when it comes to U.S. policy toward Venezuela | 36% | 20% | 24% | 19% |
| Extremely/Very | Somewhat | Not too/Not at all | ||
| % who say the U.S. should be ___ involved in how Venezuela is governed over the next several months | 21% | 32% | 45% |
The survey, conducted Jan. 20-26 among 8,512 adults, finds that:
- 44% of U.S. adults say they are very (19%) or somewhat (24%) confident that Trump can make wise policy decisions on Venezuela.
- 55% express little or no confidence in him on this issue.
However, most Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (81%) are confident in Trump’s handling of Venezuela policy, compared with just 10% of Democrats and Democratic leaners.
U.S. role in Venezuela’s governance
Overall, 45% of Americans say the U.S. should be not too or not at all involved in Venezuela’s governance over the next several months. Another 32% say the U.S. should be somewhat involved, while 21% say it should be extremely or very involved.
Republicans (77%) are more than twice as likely as Democrats (32%) to say the U.S. should be at least somewhat involved in how Venezuela is governed over the coming months. And 36% of Republicans say the U.S. should be extremely or very involved, compared with just 7% of Democrats.
Access to Venezuela’s oil
| Strongly oppose | Strongly opppose | Somewhat oppose | Somewhat favor | Strongly favor | Not sure | NET Oppose | NET Favor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 25% | 25% | 15% | 22% | 15% | 22% | 40% | 37% |
| Rep/Lean Rep | 7% | 7% | 10% | 33% | 29% | 21% | 17% | 62% |
| Dem/Lean Dem | 43% | 43% | 19% | 13% | 3% | 21% | 62% | 16% |
Americans are similarly divided on whether U.S. companies should be given access to Venezuela’s oil: 37% favor this, 40% are opposed and 22% are not sure. Trump has been encouraging U.S. companies to begin investing in Venezuela’s substantial oil reserves.
Roughly six-in-ten Republicans (62%) favor giving U.S. companies access to Venezuela’s oil. An identical share of Democrats oppose this.
U.S. military actions
Similar shares of Americans approve (39%) and disapprove (40%) of the Trump administration’s initial use of military force to remove Maduro from power. Another 20% are not sure. Republicans are much more likely than Democrats to approve of these actions (69% vs. 14%).
There is little overall support for sending ground troops to Venezuela: 64% of Americans oppose this, while 18% favor it.
Related: 7 facts about Venezuelans in the U.S.
Note: Here are our survey questions, the detailed responses and the survey methodology.
