As former President Donald Trump has warned of 2024 being the "final battle," a Politico poll conducted by Ipsos finds a majority of adults want the legal battles decided before the political war kicks up in earnest.
A 57% majority of adults want special counsel Jack Smith's 37-count federal indictment trial to be held before the Republican primary cycle starts early next year, including 42% of registered Republicans.
Trump is making the case the indictment under the Espionage Act of 1917 for the alleged willful retention of military secrets — as opposed to the civil statue of the Presidential Records Act — amounts to "election interference." He has long alleged myriad investigations into him, his actions in contesting the 2020 presidential election, failed impeachment over "incitement of an insurrection," and cases in New York City were attempts to keep him from running for president again.
"If prosecutors and the presiding judge want to look to the law and satisfy the public's interest, they can point to the results from this poll," former federal prosecutor Ankush Khardori wrote in the poll analysis.
Khardori entered the Justice Department before Trump took office and left in early 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic was beginning.
Democrats in the poll overwhelmingly agree with Khardori, who wrote "The Case for Prosecuting Trump," long before Jan. 6 or the 2020 presidential election challenge unfolded:
- 86% of Democrats want Trump put on trial before the 2024 presidential election.
- 81% of Democrats said Trump is guilty in both the documents case and the Manhattan case.
- 77% of Democrats want Trump put on trial before the primaries.
- 73% of Democrats want Trump imprisoned under the Espionage Act of 1917.
Those Democrats polled help move the needle to 62% who want the trial of Trump to come before the 2024 presidential election in November, 2024. There are 48% of independents and 46% of Republicans who agree — still both pluralities but not majorities.
There are 49% of adults, 36% of independents, and 25% of Republicans who said Trump is guilty under the Espionage Act of 1917. Much of those same people perhaps hold the same opinion of Trump's guilt in the Manhattan case (48% adults, 28% of independents, and 24% Republicans.)
Ipsos conducted the Politico poll for Khardori at Politico from June 27-28 among 1,005 adults. The results have a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.