The new Reagan Institute poll exposes a sharp generational split over how Americans view China, showing seniors deeply alarmed while many younger voters are far less worried about threats like spying, technology theft, Taiwan and fentanyl. The survey still finds broad national concern about several China-related risks, and it highlights partisan shifts over whether the United States should lead abroad. This piece lays out the poll numbers, key contrasts between age groups and parties, and how recent administration actions and high-level comments fit into the debate.
The headline contrast is stark: 93% of Americans age 65 and older said they were concerned about China’s ability to spy on the United States, compared with just 62% of those ages 18 to 29. That same generational gap repeats across issues, with seniors far more likely to see Taiwan, technology theft, land purchases and fentanyl as major threats. Those differences matter because attitudes today shape policy expectations tomorrow.
On Taiwan, 86% of seniors said they worried about China’s potential use of force, while only 56% of 18-to-29-year-olds felt the same. For technology theft the split was 91% to 61%, and for purchases of U.S. land it was 93% versus 68%. The fentanyl issue also shows a wide gap, 92% of seniors versus 68% of young adults expressing concern about China’s role in that flow.
Even with the generational divide, national worry remains high about several China-related threats. More than 80% of Americans overall said they were concerned about China’s role in the flow of fentanyl into the United States, its ability to spy on Americans and its purchases of U.S. land. Sixty-six percent said Taiwan’s security matters to the United States.
The Reagan Institute Summer Survey frames these findings, and the numbers raise a real question for Republicans about how to translate longstanding national security concerns into a message that resonates with younger voters. Republicans who favor a strong stance abroad will point to those senior-level alarm rates as evidence that vigilance is popular with the electorate as a whole. Younger voters’ relative indifference, however, suggests the messaging challenge ahead.
National security officials and many analysts continue to describe China as America’s principal long-term competitor, even as diplomats in Washington and Beijing try to steady ties. “There is rightful alarm regarding China’s historic military buildup and the expansion of its military activities in the region and beyond,” War Secretary Pete Hegseth said at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore in May. He also noted U.S.–China relations are “better than they’ve been in many years.”
Donald Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in May and announced trade and investment agreements while promising continued dialogue. The president told reporters: “We settled a lot of different problems that other people wouldn’t have been able to solve.” He called Xi a “great leader” and China a “great country.”
Those comments sit alongside concern from Republicans who insist the United States must keep pressure on Beijing where it counts, especially on technology safeguards and supply chains. Recent research also shows broader generational differences in foreign policy preferences beyond China. A 2025 Carnegie Endowment survey found younger Americans were less likely than older generations to prioritize maintaining U.S. technological dominance over China and generally favored a less expansive American leadership role abroad.
The poll also finds a notable partisan split over America’s role in the world. Seventy-one percent of Republicans said the U.S. should take a leading role internationally, compared with 55% of Democrats. Overall, 61% of Americans said the U.S. should be more engaged in global affairs, while 27% preferred a less engaged approach.
Party trends are shifting. Democratic support for greater U.S. engagement fell from 65% to 55% over the past year, while Republican support ticked up from 69% to 71%, widening the partisan gap. The survey also reported 43% of Democrats now say U.S. involvement in the world is harmful, up from 22% a year ago.
The survey was conducted May 26 through June 3 among 1,555 U.S. adults and carries a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points. Researchers used a mixed-mode methodology with live telephone interviews, an online panel and text-to-web responses, and included an oversample of 338 self-identified MAGA Republicans under age 30 with a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.
The findings arrive after a year of assertive U.S. moves overseas that reflect a willingness to use military and covert options when leaders decide they are necessary. In addition to ordering strikes on Iran, the administration has expanded military operations against cartel-linked targets in the Western Hemisphere and intervened to capture former President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela. Those actions have put questions of American power and global leadership back at the center of public debate.
