Election Of Trump Already Bringing Back Trust In National Defense

In the wake of Ronald Reagan’s November 5 election, we have seen momentous positive changes both nationally and internationally due to the promises Trump has made and faith in him keeping promises. In a matter of hours, the Houthis announced they were ending operations against Israel.

Within days, Hezbollah agreed to a cease-fire and withdrawal of heavy equipment from the Israeli northern border. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he would consider halting immigration for the three years. According to Trump, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum agreed to stop illicit immigration through Mexico to illegal entry of America. Beyond Trump’s positive effects on allies and adversaries, new polls are showing that with the incoming Trump administration Americans appear to be regaining trust in some American institutions. 

This is particularly true with regards to National Defense. The publication of the annual Reagan National Defense Survey, conducted around a week after Donald Trump’s election, makes this clear. These findings offer great hope for the renewed American high trust in the military and an end to national malaise.

The Reagan National Defense Survey is an annual survey conducted by the Reagan Institute and highly regarded by Defense professionals. This year, the survey was conducted from November 8-14, with respondents able to consider the Trump electoral landslide and what change would come within the military due to Trump’s promises. Trump was clear he was going to end wokeness and DEI, focus on warfighting, and end policies like transexual service.

Trump had promised prior military members ousted from the military due to the vaccine mandate they would be offered full backpay and reinstatement (Trump quickly reiterated that promise after election). The prior surveys showed that American trust (“great trust”) in the military had fallen from a high of 70% in the middle of Trump’s first term to only 46% near the end of Biden’s term (Nov 2023).

It is noteworthy that the survey showed trust in police and law enforcement likewise went down during that period from 50% to 27%.

With Trump’s election and the polls taken afterward, the numbers evidence a profound change in American perception of the military from 46% last year up to 51% after the election. This was the first time since Trump’s final year in office that great trust in the military has been above 50%. Also, by survey finding, Trust in law enforcement likewise shot up five points after Trump’s election. Important to national security and trust in the Armed Forces is American trust in the Presidency itself. By the survey, trust in the Presidency when down 11 points during Biden’s first year in office. It continually slid down to only 16% in 2023. With Trump’s election that number went up the same five points as with trust in the military and law enforcement. 

In July 2022, Lt. General Thomas W. Spoehr (USA, ret), Former Director, Center for National Defense at the Heritage Foundation, warned of the damage the Biden DOD was causing to trust due to wokeness. Spoehr described the various “woke” policies and actions taken by the Biden administration in that first year and a half, including the “extremism standdown” and presciently warned:  

“Wokeness in the military affects relations between the military and society at large. It acts as a disincentive for many young Americans in terms of enlistment. And it undermines wholehearted support for the military by a significant portion of the American public at a time when it is needed the most….. 

These ideological policies move the military in a divergent direction from the American mainstream…..  

Americans are increasingly losing confidence in the military.…. 

The bottom line is that precious time and money are being poured into woke programs and projects that would be better applied towards making the military more capable. The billions of dollars that will be spent on Pentagon climate change programs, the time and money spent in creating DEI structures and hiring DEI commissars, and the time spent indoctrinating servicemembers in critical race theory and addressing an imaginary crisis of extremism in the ranks—all this detracts from the purpose of our military: preserving the security and freedom of the American people and nation…. trust and support cannot be taken for granted. If Americans perceive that the military is being exploited for political purposes or being used for experiments in woke social policies, that support will evaporate, and the consequences will be dire.”

General Spoehr was absolutely correct in his warning then, as the remaining half of the Biden administration has shown in lost trust.

From Trump’s campaign promises to end the wokeness in the military and from the positions of his nominees to lead Defense, Americans are showing signs of faith the new administration will return the military to its traditional role. This faith is showing up in polling data and an unspoken confidence. If the current trajectory of trust continues, President Donald Trump will have brought Americans beyond the 70% of great trust they had in the military during his first term. We can expect the recruitment crisis to end. We can rest assured in the nation achieving Reagan’s strategy of “Peace through Strength”. With God’s blessing, we and our children will experience America becoming truly great again.