Americans expect relations with Russia to get worse, poll finds

WASHINGTON — Americans largely fear the country’s relationships with Russia and China will get worse in the coming year, and despite signs of diplomatic progress with Kim Jong Un on nuclear weapons, nearly half say the same about North Korea.

That’s according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, which provides insight into the public’s view on the direction of U.S. ties with those key strategic rivals, 15 months after President Donald Trump took office.

“Trump has opened up a whole bucket of worms, and he’s doing it with too many countries all at once,” said John Parker, 70, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., “It’s almost like he’s trying to get us into trouble.”

The poll found that Americans are most downbeat about the relationship with Russia: 56 percent think it will get worse over the next year, while just 13 percent think it will improve. Even among Republicans, more expect the relationship with Russia to get worse than better, 40 percent to 20 percent, though another 40 percent expect it to stay about the same.

Eric Brammer, 30, an information technology specialist from Roanoke, Va., who describes himself as a Democrat, said he expects tensions to continue over Russia’s support of the government of President Bashar Assad in civil war-wracked Syria, where the U.S., Britain and France last week launched missile strikes against Syrian chemical weapons facilities.

Brammer also said that if more allegations of Russian interference in U.S. elections come to light, it will sow more distrust among the American public and worsen the relationship.

On China — with which Trump has forged cooperation against North Korea but drawn sharp differences on trade — some 48 percent expect relations to get worse in the next year, while just 17 percent expect things to get better.

“The farmers here are worried about trade with China because of the soybeans, corn and hogs that all go there,” said Dorothy Jorgensen, a retiree from Sioux Falls, S.D., who expects relations with the world’s second-largest economy to deteriorate. “If one side raises taxes and the other side does the same, it’s not going to help either country.”

Despite the promise of the summit, far more Americans think relations with the North Korea will get worse than better, 47 percent to 20 percent. Republicans are more optimistic. Forty percent think that the relationship will improve in the next year. Just 25 percent expect it to worsen.

The AP-NORC poll of 1,140 adults, which was conducted April 11-16, has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.0 percentage points.