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Lehigh Valley Political Pulse | March 11, 2025 | Foreign policy and public opinion

Politics reporter and host Tom Shortell is joined by Chris Borick, Director of Muhlenberg College's Institute of Public Opinion talk about American politics and international relations.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — American politics may be changing in regard to international relations.

This week on Political Pulse, host Tom Shortell and Chris Borick, director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion talk about the recent meeting between Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance.

"Trump accused [Zelenskyy] of gambling with World War Three," Shortell tells Borick. "How big a departure is this situation from standard American foreign policy?"

Borick called it a "significant" departure.

Trump's actions "mark a really different approach to how the United States sees its role in international affairs, in engagement with Russia, in engagement with Europe," Borick said. "The President's approach is transformative in terms of the history of American foreign policy, at least since World War Two."

While American foreign policy may be changing, Borick also acknowledges public opinion may be shifting as well. Previously, there was "majority support" for Ukraine among Americans, but over the course of the three-year-long war, Borick said, "we've seen some changes."

These shifts, Borick said, are namely due to fatigue — many wanting the war to end and reach a resolution sooner — and "elite cues" from political leaders.

Support for Ukraine from Pennsylvania shouldn't come as much of a surprise, Borick said, given the state's significant Ukrainian-American population. In the Lehigh Valley, congregants continue to gather weekly at St. Mary Ukrainian Orthodox Church and other local Ukrainian churches to pray for the war to end.

At a late February service, St. Mary Ukrainian Orthodox Church Rev. Richard Jendras said, "I would never think that America would turn its back on Ukraine."

What else could come of the country's political relations? Do they align favorably or unfavorably with public opinion toward others?

Learn more by watching the video above or clicking the play button to listen to the module below.

Lehigh Valley Political Pulse | March 11, 2025
Tom Shortell and Chris Borick