Americans Favor US Leaders Opening Talks with Most US Adversaries

Meeting with foreign leaders is a key tool in any administration’s tool box. These leader-level meetings are often the culmination of extensive efforts by working-level US officials and more frequently take place with US allies and partners than with counterparts of US adversaries. But the 2023 Chicago Council Survey—conducted September 7-18, 2023—finds that the American public is broadly supportive of US leaders meeting with the leaders of countries and groups with whom the United States has hostile or unfriendly relations.  

The convention of carefully orchestrated diplomacy was most obviously upended when then-President Donald Trump met with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un in Singapore in 2018. Accordingly, the summit had its share of critics. But the American public has long supported US leaders meeting with North Korea’s leadership. In 2023, 66 say US leaders should meet and talk with leaders of North Korea. This included majorities of Democrats (65%), Republicans (68%), and Independents (67%). Moreover, this is largely unchanged since the question was first asked in 2010 when 63 percent agreed. 

Cuba is another country widely viewed as unfriendly to the United States, yet 77 percent of the American public support meeting Cuban leaders.  

Perhaps the two biggest geopolitical rivals of the United States are China and Russia. While US public opinion is widely negative toward both of these governments, Americans nevertheless strongly support US leaders meeting with leaders of both countries; 83 percent and 69 percent, respectively. That support is bipartisan in both cases, with 79 percent of Republicans and 87 percent of Democrats favoring meeting with China and 72 percent of Republicans and 65 percent of Democrats in favor of meeting Russian leaders.  

It is also critical to note that this survey was conducted before the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. At the time the survey was conducted, 57 percent favored US leaders meeting Hamas and 72 percent said US leaders should meet leaders of Iran. However, given interceding events, it is highly likely that these numbers have shifted dramatically.