Poll shows opposition to funding border wall

Survey finds mix of viewpoints on Trump budget

WASHINGTON - Most Americans oppose funding President Donald Trump’s wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and even many of his supporters reject his proposed budget cuts to scientific and medical research, according to a poll released Thursday by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

The president gets higher marks for efforts to boost defense spending and beef up the Border Patrol, the poll found.

The results come at a crucial time. Congressional Republicans and Democrats are wrestling over whether to include a down payment for the wall in the spending bill to keep the government open at the end of the month.

Trump has yet to pass a major bill through Congress as his 100th day in office nears.

The poll offers a mixed view of Trump’s budget plan, which drew criticism from Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill.

Americans supported cuts to foreign aid, but opposed Trump’s planned cuts to spending on environmental programs and fighting climate change.

People were more likely to oppose than favor cutting federal help for public broadcasting and the arts and by huge margins supported additional money for veterans’ programs.

“The military is depleted, and the veterans have been hurting,” said Margaret Hall, 77, a Trump supporter from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Trump’s spending plans are facing their first test on Capitol Hill, as lawmakers debate his request for $30 billion for an immediate cash infusion for the military and $3 billion for additional border security, including a $1 billion down payment for new fencing and other barriers along the U.S.Mexico border.

The public opposes new spending for the wall, 58 percent to 28 percent. Nearly half say they strongly oppose funding for the project.

“I honestly think the wall is going to be a fiasco. If they want to get into the country, they’re going to get into the country, regardless of what you put up there,” said Wes Drought, 61, a paramedic from Winnebago, Illinois, who strongly disapproves of Trump. “If you’re going to do something, do it with the Border Patrol. If you want to create jobs, there’s a job.”

Democrats have come out strongly against the wall construction, and some Republicans are signaling they’re not interested in a confrontation.

“I don’t like the concept — I don’t think it’s needed — of a 2,000-mile wall as some envision,” said Sen. Jeff Flake, RAriz., whose state is home to some of the most rugged terrain along the border. “It’s just not needed. In some areas you just don’t need it. In some areas you need a wall, in some areas you need fences. In some areas you need surveillance.”

Testifying Wednesday, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said the wall won’t be from “sea to shining sea,” but in places where border agents say it would be most effective. He said the wall could extend beyond a physical barrier and include a mix of technology including drones.

Eighty-six percent of Democrats and 57 percent of independents oppose new spending for a border wall with Mexico. Republicans break about 2-1 in favor of the wall, but that’s more narrow support than on other priorities.

The most popular proposal by far in the Trump budget is increasing spending on Veterans Affairs, which is supported by 74 percent of Americans and opposed by just 8 percent.

But other pieces of the proposed Trump budget draw negative reviews. By a 64 percent to 19 percent margin, most oppose decreasing spending on scientific and medical research.

Most Americans also oppose cuts to spending on the environment and on climate change, by a 52 percent to 28 percent margin.