Overview

The 2025 Survey of Military Veterans repeats key items from the 2024 Survey of Military Veterans in order to assess how the start of the Trump administration has shaped perceptions of the military among former servicemembers.

Methodology

The 2025 Survey of Military Veterans relied on a sample of 400 former servicemembers collected through Prolific.

Findings

Between August 2024 and February 2025, there have been dramatic ideological shifts among America’s veterans. For example, the percentage of liberal veterans saying the military is heading in the “wrong” direction has spiked dramatically while the percentage of conservative veterans saying the military is heading the “wrong” direction has drastically declined.

More importantly, liberal veterans have become much less likely to recommend service to their young family members since the start of the Trump administration. Conservative veterans, by contrast, have become more likely to advise a young family member to enlist.

You can find a summary of the results here.