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here we work on taking reagan ideas, principles and values and making sure that those engaged in public policy, be it in the congress, the executive branch, thought leaders in town are really looking at reagan ideas and principles as they advance the u.s. public policy. >> how long has the foundation been around? how are you funded? >> 405 c3 since they started the library back in 1991. the institution has been around six or seven years and we have our presence across from the white house. >> when and why did you start surveying their views on international engagement and these defense issues that we're going to talk about? >> president reagan had strong legacy in terms of advancing legacy in the world and particularly on peace through strength and we for sometime have been engaging with america's thought leaders and elected officials on these issues and we found that it really was a gap in the discussions, where the views are of the american people. and oftenteams you hear the

elected officials hear about the american people believe why, but it's not backed up by a lot of evidence so what we sought to do with our survey is to make sure when it comes to foreign policy and national security against issues, it was a pretty deep dive into the issue set and make sure that our elected officials and policy makers understand where the american people actually were on those questions. >> when were you in the field on this? >> we were in the field just after the election, in early november, about 2500 people were reached out to by our polling services and some questions were just over 1500, but overall, 2500 rerespondents. >> top line numbers from that survey, 50% overall, ing 61% of trump voters prefer a vote, engagednternational at the american leadership approach on the interal stage, 79% strongly or somewhat suppor an increase in defense spending a the highest level ever recorded on one of these surveys and 71% supported more

defense spending in the institute, summer of 2023 polling, and so, what stuck out from you for those numbers? >> the first one you mentioned was really the one that got our attention. as you mentioned 57% of american people believe that america should be leading in the world and i think surprising to many of those who have looked at our survey, 61% of trump voters. there's a big, broad coalition that put president trump back into office and there's certainly a pocket much those voters, a slice of those voters who actually look to reduce america's role in the world, but as the survey bears out the majority of them actually are in line, very reaganesque world view, 61%, that's up significantly not just where we were as you mentioned on our last survey, as we saw where trump voters were, but some demographics that stand down in addition to trump voters, significant jump i would say

30%. >> and engaged international at the american leadership approach. is that at odds in your mind with a campaign slogan, a campaign platform that's america first? >> i think it's a question how you have america first. what is america first and i think what this survey really bears out. both in terms of what american leadership is and then what president trump campaigned on peace through strength, stitch together how american people are, pan first and foremost about america's national interest. you would not hear the trump kind of supporters, both who are going into the trump administration talking about america supporting the rules based international order, that's not part of their lexicon. what they want to see in the world is america is leading america's interests are being advanced and that's what 61% of those trump voters were probably getting behind. there's a technician for american interests, the american secure, american prosperity to be preserved it

can't be done simply by that, america's lead in the world i think that's the contribution of the survey certainly in this question. >> we'll get more into the survey. roger zakheim, call in, republicans 202-748-80001. democrats, 8000 and independents 8002 and a special for active and military, 202-748-8003. i want to hear from you, especially in topics related to the second part of the survey. the u.s. military, confidence in the military and 31% say some confidence up and pointed out the results of a historic low of 45% who had a great deal, high confidence in the

military after the withdrawal from afghanistan late 2021. >> yeah, this is actually one of the more important discoveries we've had since we've done our survey as far back as 2018 and we started the survey in 2018. 70% of those surveyed had trust and confidence in the military and we divide that up between somewhat or a great deal. total count was 70% and we saw this precipitous decline and that bottomed out in 2021. and this one carried out in november of this year. we saw that number going up a bit to just north of 50%. now, institutions as a whole have taken a hit and we've seen that in our survey over the years, but i think it's a positive indication that the american people certainly as expressed as respondent dents in the survey have now increased their confidence in the u.s. military. >> so what do you do with these numbers, confidence in the military, u.s. and the world. we take these to members of congress, policy makers and you

saw what? >> well, first, we make them aware and make sure that those who have a point of view and they're doing them with the american people informed how their point of view aligns with our survey. we just came out of our reagan and national defense forum which takes place every year in the first week of december out and simi valley where the reagan library resides. we have the leaders of congress who focus on the national services committees, the appropriations committee and gather 700 people annually at the reagan national defense forum and it drives the discussion because again, we want to make sure that those advocating for an increased role in the world and pushing for u.s. presence and those reasons for indoe pacific and europe and the middle east, they understand where the american people stand with the issue sets and give the richer conversations and importantly, where the legacy of president

reagan comes in, focused on his views of the american people and voice of the american people penetrating on the beltway and for this survey. >> this confidence in u.s. military. do you she that as 51% of americans have a great deal of confidence that the u.s. can fight and win the wars in the future or 51% have a confidence in the decision makers leading us in fights that we can win? >> that's a great question and it's hard to pars the survey. we've used her surveys, subsequent to the confidence question to try to get at that. i think generally it's about the focus in terms of leadership. and we ever other questions to talk about, the u.s. military's competency, the ability to prevail and the conflict, importantly. and whether the u.s. can prevail in the conflict for the people's republic of china and the people's liberation army and the defense of policy makers and the peer competitor in the competition with the

prc. they're just over half believe the u.s. could actually prevail in the conflict. in that respect, it does kind of paralegal the trust and confidence numbers we're talking about, 51% to the confidence in the u.s. military. >> there's more numbers i want to get to them over the course of the segment and until the end of our program, at 10 a.m. eastern today and how it is in chicago, first. republican, howard, good morning. >> yeah, good morning. everyone is talking about the defense budget. why is it they can't pass an audit and haven't done it in seven years and most importantly, no one is held accountable for failing their audits. how do we address that? >> great question, on the audit and i think there are two ways to think about it, first that you bring up, hey, this is an enterprise that's appropriated on the basis, just about 900 billion dollars and it should be able to have a clean audit.

we have certain pockets of the department of defense that actually do have that audit, the marine corps stands out in terms of services that can carry out an audit and overall, struggled to have a comprehensive audit and the process of realizing an audit and this does not bear out in our survey, it does actually connect though, to the support for increased defense spending, the process of carrying out an audit as i mentioned, does actually reveal a lot of information that helps the department of defense execute its responsibilities more efficiently, so the process to the pursuit of an audit is done with renewed purpose and focus since the last drumm administration and that will come in the incoming trump administration, and i think it's out for that and i think the caller is right to highlight it. >> and obviously pointed out, how big of a deal is it to the

policy makers that you talk to, how much do they care? >> yeah, policy makers care deeply about it, there is a variety of players here, and members of congress who have prioritized this over the years and senator grassley comes to mind in the u.s. senate, but it makes the department more efficient as they pursue this audit and i know in this previous section, more focus on doge and i think the audit department will be a part of that. you have to know what you have and where you have it. i heard a story the other day because the marine corps audit, they found spare parts necessary for the f-35, our fifth generation fighter critical for our navy, marine corps and air force because of the audit and the result was that about 50 plus f-35's that were grounded were actually actually able to be put into use and