What recent polls show Donald Trump's current approval among veterans post-2020 election?

1. What the veteran‑specific polls say and how recent they are

A handful of polls since the 2024 election point to continued veteran backing: Change Research, as reported by The Hill in September 2024, found Trump leading Vice President Harris 51% to 41% among veterans ^[1], while exit‑poll summaries circulated after the 2024 election reported that about 65% of voters who served in the military said they voted for Trump ^[3]; by mid‑2025, the progressive polling outfit Data for Progress measured a slimmer margin, with 51% of veterans expressing a favorable view of Trump and 47% unfavorable—yielding only a +4 net favorability ^[2].

2. How to read differences between favorability, vote intent and job approval

The polling landscape mixes different questions—vote choice, favorability and presidential job approval—which produce different numbers: Change Research and exit polls measured vote preference or relative support at or just after the 2024 election ^{[1] [3]}, Data for Progress asked about favorability in 2025 ^[2], and the major national trackers reflected Trump’s broader job approval among all adults (not veterans specifically), showing deeper negatives—e.g., Silver Bulletin’s aggregate net approval in early 2026 around –12.9 and AP‑NORC single surveys near –19 net in January 2026 for the overall public ^{[4] [5]}. None of the cited national trackers provide a continuous, national veterans‑only approval time series in the sources provided ^{[4] [6]}.

3. Small samples, question wording and partisan sponsors matter

Variations in the veteran numbers are consistent with known polling caveats: sample size and how “veteran” is defined, whether the poll asks about favorability versus job performance, and who funded or distributed the poll can all shift results—Change Research’s survey was shared with The Hill and focused on candidate preference ^[1], while Data for Progress is an advocacy‑oriented outfit that reported favorability and policy reactions in 2025 ^[2]. The difference between a post‑election vote share (65% Trump in exit‑poll summaries) and a mid‑year favorability of +4 shows movement that may reflect events, question framing, or sampling differences ^{[3] [2]}.

4. Contrasting signals from institutional trust and the broader electorate

Some non‑approval metrics complicate the picture: veterans’ trust in the Department of Veterans Affairs has shown high scores under both Trump and Biden administrations in customer experience surveys—about 80% in 2021 (under Trump) and roughly 80.4% in 2024 (under Biden)—which speaks to evaluative nuance among veterans separate from presidential politics ^[7]. At the same time, national polling aggregators and major survey houses signaled that Trump’s overall approval among all adults trended lower in late 2025 and early 2026, underscoring that veterans’ relative support does not necessarily mirror the broader electorate ^{[4] [5] [6]}.

5. Bottom line and limits of the available reporting

Available, cited reporting shows a pattern: veterans were a reliable pro‑Trump bloc in the 2024 election (exit polls showing ~65% support) and subsequent polls show continued majority or plurality support but with significant variation—Change Research’s 51%–41% lead ^[1] and Data for Progress’s narrow +4 favorability in 2025 ^[2] illustrate that margin is not monolithic. Reporting limitations must be acknowledged: the supplied sources do not include a comprehensive, up‑to‑date national time series of veteran‑only presidential job approval, and many large aggregators report overall public numbers rather than veteran‑specific approval ^{[4] [6]}. Therefore, while the evidence points to stronger relative support for Trump among veterans compared with the general public, the precise current approval figure for veterans depends on which poll, question and sampling method one uses ^{[1] [3] [2]}.