Poll: Trump gets credit for North Korea summit
But most worry about deteriorating relations with traditional allies
Americans are hopeful President Donald Trump’s summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will reduce the threat to the world from Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons, a USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll finds, although most doubt that North Korea will deliver on its promise to eliminate its nuclear arsenal.
While Trump’s outreach to an adversary gets positive marks, a majority of those surveyed express concern about deteriorating relations with traditional allies like Canada, Germany and Great Britain after the contentious G-7 economic summit in Canada.
The national poll, taken Wednesday through Monday, underscores the mixed and fluid views of the president’s stewardship on foreign policy at a time he has faced fire in recent days over his hard-line immigration policies. Americans give him some credit for taking a new approach toward North Korea, but there is also deep nervousness over his willingness to shake up relations with old friends.
“One thing that the president does well is he doesn’t do the status quo,” says Brian Williams, 49, of Oakland, California. “He’s trying something that no other president has done.”
Williams, an operations manager for a medical tech company who voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016, was among those called in the poll. “I’m nervous that this is a success for North Korea more than it is for us, but on the other hand, I’m cautiously optimistic that at least we’re establishing a dialogue that will hopefully put our relationship with North Korea in a better place,” he said in a callback interview.
But Tammie Schneider, 44, an aide at a charter school in Tucson, Arizona, dismisses the summit as “a publicity stunt.”
By a 2-1 margin, 41 percent to 20 percent, those surveyed call last week’s summit a success rather than a failure. A significant share are taking a wait-andsee attitude: 39 percent are either undecided or say it is too soon to judge.
When it comes to handling North Korea, 51 percent approve of the job Trump is doing; 34 percent disapprove. That’s better than the 43 percent approval/51 percent disapproval rating he receives on handling the job as president overall.
Those surveyed tend to see the president through a partisan lens – no surprise there – but the findings do show one in five Democrats giving him credit on North Korea. His 21 percent approval rating on handling North Korea among Democrats, while low, is almost double the 12 percent of Democrats who approve of the job he’s doing overall.
On the other hand, while Republicans overwhelmingly approve of the job Trump is doing overall, one in five disapprove of his handling of relations with traditional allies. The G-7 economic summit in Canada this month ended with Trump drawing fierce criticism from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and others for imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum and for withdrawing his signature from a joint statement that was negotiated there.
Trump’s approval rating in handling relationships with traditional allies, at
39 percent, is lower than his 43 percent approval rating overall.
The poll of 1,000 registered voters by landline and cellphone has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Among the findings:
❚ On handling North Korea: By 45 percent to 35 percent, those surveyed predict the summit with North Korea will reduce the threat to the world from North Korea’s nuclear arsenal. But by 55 percent-19 percent, they doubt Pyongyang will follow through on its promise to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.
❚ On handling traditional allies: 54 percent say they are concerned about the deteriorating relationships with old allies; 36 percent aren’t concerned. Those expressing concern include 26 percent of Republicans and 78 percent of Democrats.
In follow-up interviews, some of those called in the poll worry about the repercussions of Trump’s praise of Kim, who leads one of the world’s most brutal regimes. “I believe Kim Jong Un is just evil to the core,” says Valerie Crankshaw, 57, of Hayward, California. She calls the summit “a waste of time, waste of money and resources.”
But Julie Whitley, 60, of Scottsdale, Arizona, says that just the fact that the president sat down with the North Korean leader was “a good thing,” whatever happens next.
“One thing that the president does well is he doesn’t do the status quo.” Brian Williams Oakland, California