Trump Is Damaging The World's Opinion Of The United States

A new survey by the Pew Research Center reveals that President Trump is significantly damaging the United States' image worldwide. According to the poll, which gathered data from 37 nations, a mere 22 percent said they trusted the American president to make the right decisions concerning international affairs — a stark difference from the 64 percent who felt confidence in President Obama toward the end of his administration.

Of all countries included in the study, only two — Israel and and Russia — held more favorable views of Trump than his predecessor. President Obama had a low favorability rating of 11 percent in Russia, whereas Trump enjoys the approval of over half of the country's respondents.

Mexico, Spain, Jordan, Sweden, and Germany held the lowest views of the U.S. president, with confidence ratings of 5 percent, 7 percent, 9 percent, 10 percent, and 11 percent, respectively.

When it comes to specific personal characteristics, 75 percent of the survey's participants saw Trump as arrogant, 65 percent viewed him as intolerant, and 62 percent felt that he's dangerous. When questioned about positive qualities, he was perceived as a strong leader by 55 percent, charismatic by 39 percent, well-qualified by 26 percent, and caring about ordinary people by 23 percent.

The Pew study also examined opinions of three other world leaders — Russia's Vladimir Putin, China's Xi Jinping, and Germany's Angela Merkel. With a 22 percent confidence rating, Trump scored the lowest mark. At 42 percent, Merkel scored the highest.

The driving forces behind President Trump's deep unpopularity were his policies, with 76 percent of respondents opposing his U.S.-Mexico border wall proposal, 72 percent disagreeing with his withdrawal the U.S.'s involvement in major trade agreements, 71 percent disapproving of his decision to withdraw from international climate change agreements, 62 percent opposing his travel ban on Muslim-majority countries, and 49 percent disagreeing with his move to revoke U.S. support of the Iran nuclear agreement.

Not all the findings were bad news for the U.S., however. Most respondents — 58 percent — held favorable opinions of the American people. American entertainment and pop culture received a higher favorability rating, of 65 percent.

In an April speech for the National Association of Business Trade Unions, President Trump suggested that he cares little about working on issues that benefit other nations and has little regard for his international image. "I'm not, and I don't want to be, the president of the world,” he said. “I'm the president of the United States. And from now on, it’s going to be America first.”