Opinion Weekend
August 16-17, 2025
For First Time, Most Americans Want to Back Ukraine for ‘as Long as It Takes’ Shibley Telhami (University of Maryland), Lawfare To better track the degree of American support for Ukraine, the University of Maryland Critical Issues Poll fielded questions with SSRS among a sample of 1,514 Americans over the age of 18 from their online panel from July 29 to Aug. 7. Nearly two-thirds of Americans polled, 64 percent, say they sympathize more with Ukraine compared to two percent who say they sympathize more with Russia. Overall, 54 percent of respondents said the U.S. should stay the course for as long as it takes.
Dramatic Rise in Republican Support for Ukraine Dina Smeltz and Craig Kafura, Chicago Council on Global Affairs A just-completed Chicago Council on Global Affairs poll, fielded July 18–30, 2025, finds that American public support for sending military and economic aid to Ukraine has increased since March—especially among Republican Party supporters.
Rising worries about inflation Joanne Hsu, University of Michigan Consumer sentiment fell back about 5% in August, declining for the first time in four months. This deterioration largely stems from rising worries about inflation. Overall, consumers are no longer bracing for the worst-case scenario for the economy feared in April when reciprocal tariffs were announced and then paused. However, consumers continue to expect both inflation and unemployment to deteriorate in the future.
Trade Policy and Expected Consumer Spending Joanne Hsu, University of Michigan Since the election, trade policy has captured the attention of consumers, specifically in terms of their anticipated effects on the prices they face. This attention comes as no surprise, given that concerns about high prices and inflation have dominated consumer attitudes toward the economy since the pandemic. Under these circumstances, how consumer spending will evolve is critical to understanding the trajectory of the economy.
Americans never forgot about inflation Clifford Young and Bernard Mendez, Ipsos A higher-than-expected Producer Price Index report has left economists worried that companies will soon be passing on tariff-related costs to consumers and that the inflationary effects of tariffs may be at our doorstep. How big of a blip tariffs will end up being on prices remains to be seen. But for Americans, inflation is a familiar story, one that never really left their minds, even several summers after 2022’s historic wave of inflation hit its crest.
Most Americans aren't seeing positive news about the economy Matt Carmichael, Ipsos Few Americans say they're reading positive news about the economy, though more Republicans say they're seeing it than Democrats, according to new polling from the Ipsos Consumer Tracker
Are electronics the new luxury? Matt Carmichael, Ipsos The top two categories where people say they buy premium, high quality or “luxury” brands are electronics and fragrances/colognes, according to a new poll from the Ipsos Consumer Tracker
Survey of NFL Players Finds the Vast Majority Say Pro Football Left Them With a Range of Serious Health Problems KFF KFF and ESPN jointly released a first-of-its-kind, in-depth polling and reporting project that sheds new light on the health issues and other challenges facing NFL players after they leave the game. The KFF/ESPN Survey of 1988 NFL Players draws on a novel survey of 546 respondents who were among the 1,532 players from the 1988 season.
