Thumbs down for Trump in global poll
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump has alarmed citizens of the nation’s closest allies and others worldwide, diminishing the standing of the US in their eyes, according to a wide-ranging international study.
With remarkable speed, Trump’s presidency has taken a toll on the image of the US abroad. The international survey by the Pew Research Center found that favourable ratings of the US have decreased from 64% of people across all countries surveyed at the end of Barack Obama’s presidency to 49% in the past few months.
The new figures are similar to those towards the end of the George W Bush administration. Trump himself has fared even worse. A median of 22% are confident that Trump will do the right thing in global affairs, down from 64% who had confidence in Obama.
From Chile to Italy, from Sweden to Japan, majorities consider the president arrogant, intolerant, unqualified and dangerous. On the flip side, most view him as a strong leader. And many expect their country’s relationship with the US to withstand his presidency.
“America’s image has taken hits in recent years, from the decision to invade Iraq to the events of 2007 and 2008 when the American financial model took a huge hit,” said Frank G Wisner, a former US diplomat. “But the most consequential is the ascent of Mr Trump to the Oval Office.”
Disapproval registered abroad suggests that Trump has undone the progress Obama made in burnishing the US brand.
Among other world leaders studied by Pew, German Chancellor Angela Merkel receives relatively high marks. The share of people who report little or no confidence in her – a median of 31% across 37 countries – is less than half that for Trump, at 74%. The survey also found that 59% lack confidence in Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trust in Trump plummeted most in some of the US’ closest allies in Europe and Asia, as well as in the countries it borders, Canada and Mexico. In Russia and Israel, does Trump receive a higher score than Obama. Germans hold some of the most negative opinions of the US, with 62% viewing the country unfavourably, and 87% lacking confidence in Trump.
Meanwhile, the UN’s top rights official accused Trump of breaking taboos by suggesting bringing back torture, and warned world powers against undermining civil liberties in their fight against militants.
Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein also lambasted British Prime Minister Theresa May for threatening to change human rights laws if they got in the way of security operations.
The UN high commissioner for human rights said on Monday that strident statements in the wake of attacks risked undermining international rights treaties.
Trump said in January he thought the practice of waterboarding – a form of simulated drowning – was a way to gather intelligence.