Do Americans think Zelenskyy is a dictator? Other leaders top the list, poll finds

President Donald Trump recently branded Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a dictator. But what do Americans think?

“A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left,” Trump wrote in a Feb. 19 post on Truth Social.

He said that the foreign leader “has done a terrible job” and that he “probably wants to keep the ‘gravy train’ going,” referring to U.S. aid for the war against Russia.

“In the meantime, we are successfully negotiating an end to the War with Russia, something all admit only ‘TRUMP,’ and the Trump Administration, can do,” the president said.

At a news conference the following day, Zelenskyy responded to Trump’s comments, saying the U.S. president lives in a Russian-created “disinformation space,” according to the Associated Press.

The tit-for-tat comes amid negotiations between the U.S. and Russia to bring about an end to the war in Ukraine, which has been ongoing for three years and has left at least 1one million dead or wounded, according to The Wall Street Journal. It has also led to an unprecedented escalation of tensions between the U.S. and Russia, according to previous reporting from McClatchy News.

What do Americans make of Trump’s comments? Do they think of Zelenskyy as a dictator?

Who’s a dictator?

In a new YouGov poll, 22% of respondents said Zelenskyy is a dictator, while twice as many, 45%, said he is not. Thirty-three percent said they are not sure.

When the poll asked about Trump, though, the results were more evenly split.

Forty-one percent of respondents said Trump is a dictator, while a slightly larger share, 45%, said he is not. Fourteen percent said they were not sure.

The poll also asked respondents about Russia President Vladimir Putin. Here, there was a clear consensus.

A strong majority, 71%, said the Russian leader is a dictator, while 9% said he is not, and 20% said they were not sure.

The poll — conducted on Feb. 19 with 4,071 U.S. adults — revealed significant differences in opinion among Democrats and Republicans on the question of which leaders are dictators.

For example, 15% of Democrats said Zelenskky is a dictator, while more than twice as many Republicans, 33%, said the same.

The partisan difference was most pronounced when it came to Trump, with 68% of Democrats saying he is a dictator and 11% of Republicans saying the same.

By comparison, there was broad agreement on Putin, with strong majorities of Democrats (83%) and Republicans (68%) calling the Russian leader a dictator.

This story was originally published February 21, 2025 at 10:51 AM with the headline "Do Americans think Zelenskyy is a dictator? Other leaders top the list, poll finds."