Majority now sees Russian military power as ‘critical threat’: poll

A majority of respondents consider Russia’s military power as a threat to the United States, according to a new poll.

The Gallup poll published Wednesday found that 52 percent of respondents see Russia’s military as a “critical threat,” up from 39 percent who answered that way when the poll was last taken in 2016. When the poll was first taken in 2004, only 18 percent held that view.

{mosads}Russia was also the country most frequently named by those polled as the one they consider the greatest enemy of the U.S., the poll found. Thirty-two percent named Russia as the top enemy, while 21 percent named China and 14 percent named North Korea. 

When Gallup polled on that question last year, 51 percent said they considered North Korea the top enemy.

The poll also found that Democrats are more likely than Republicans to name Russia the top enemy of the U.S., with 46 percent of polled Democrats holding that view. Only 14 percent of Republican respondents named Russia the top enemy.

Since 2017, federal investigators have been probing Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign.

The results for the Gallup poll were based on interviews with 1,016 adults, conducted from Feb. 1-10. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.