Survey reveals US image suffers after Trump election

WASHINGTON: The United States’ image has suffered as the international community questions President Donald Trump’s leadership, a survey released by Pew Research Centre shows.

A median of only 22 per cent of people surveyed in 37 countries has confidence in Trump to do the right thing in international affairs, according to the survey, which was released late on Monday by the Washington-based centre.

The figure compares with 64 per cent who expressed confidence in Barack Obama at the end of his presidency.

Some of America’s closest allies in Europe and Asia show some of the sharpest declines in how much they trust the US president on the world stage. The survey gave Trump a higher confidence level than Obama in only two countries: Russia and Israel.

A median of just 16 per cent support Trump’s plan to build a wall between the US and Mexico, with heavy opposition in Mexico and throughout Latin America and Europe. No country surveyed found a majority endorsement of the wall.

Russia is the only nation that the study found had a large improvement in its image of the US. Among Russians surveyed the favourable view of the US rose from 15 per cent in 2015 to 41 per cent in 2017.

A median of 55 per cent described Trump as a strong leader across the countries surveyed, including places where confidence in the president is low.