Trump Causes 'Major' Shift in Global View of US: Pew

Trump Causes 'Major' Shift in Global View of US: Pew
Tue Jun 27, 2017 12:13:39

Donald Trump's presidency has had a "major impact on how the world sees the United States", a large new study says.

 

The survey, by the Pew Research Center, interviewed more than 40,000 people in 37 countries this year.

It concluded that the US president and his policies "are broadly unpopular around the globe".

The survey shows only two of the 37 regions have a better opinion of Mr Trump than they had of his predecessor Barack Obama: Israeli region and Russia.

But the report indicates many feel their country's relationship with the US will not change over the coming years.

The key findings from the survey, carried out between 16 February and 8 May, include:

People have less faith in Trump than Obama

People were surveyed at the end of Barack Obama's eight-year presidency, and after the start of Mr Trump's term - they were asked if they had faith that the president would do the right thing for world affairs.

This is how some US allies (and Russia) responded:

Do you have confidence in the president to do the right thing globally?

 

 

Mr Trump wasted little time in making his mark on world affairs - making clear he expected Nato countries to pay their fair share and encouraging Gulf countries to isolate Qatar in recent weeks

 His presidency has shaken up old allies to the extent that German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, after she met Mr Trump, that she felt Europe could no longer "completely depend" on its old ally.

In fact, it is among the traditional US allies that the confidence has dropped the most, according to the survey - while 86% of Germans had faith in Mr Obama, for example, only 11% do so in Mr Trump.

In his five months in office, the US president has, however, reached out to important friends - visiting Israel, Saudi Arabia and other countries early on.

His focus on the relationship with Israel, for one, has paid off - though his preferred status among Israelis is also reflective of Mr Obama's unpopularity there.

India, whose prime minister Narendra Modi met Mr Trump on Monday, is one of the countries that looks on the US president most favourably - 40% of respondents had confidence in him compared with 58% for Mr Obama.

Most countries see Trump in an unfavourable light

Responders were asked if they viewed Mr Trump in seven particular ways.

Across all the characteristics tested, positive and negative, President Trump is most likely to be described as arrogant," the Pew report says.

In 26 of the 37 regions, more than half of respondents consider Mr Trump dangerous.

Having said that, the opinion changes depending on who is answering - those who say they are left-leaning are far more likely to consider him dangerous. In Peru and Brazil, it's those in the centre politically who are more likely to be worried.

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