Trump Is One of the Worst Leaders on Earth, According to the Rest of the World

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/xg89e4/trump-is-one-of-the-worst-world-leaders-on-earth-according-to-the-rest-of-the-world

Paul Blest

September 16, 2020, 9:46am

People in more than a dozen countries around the world have virtually no confidence in Donald Trump, and believe the U.S. has royally screwed up its coronavirus response, according to a Pew survey of American-allied countries around the globe.

In some countries that are closely allied with the United States, such as the United Kingdom, confidence is the lowest it’s ever been (41%). In others, such as France and Germany, only around 25% of respondents have confidence in the U.S., matching the country’s poor global standing in March 2003, when the United States invaded Iraq.

In all but one of the 13 countries included in the survey—which includes countries from western Europe and east Asia, as well as Australia and Canada—a clear majority have an unfavorable view of the United States. Among those 13 countries, just 16% of those surveyed expressed confidence in Trump to do the right thing regarding world affairs, as opposed to 83% who did not have confidence in him to do that. Just 34% of those surveyed held a favorable view of the United States in general.

The only country that did not hold an unfavorable view of the U.S. is South Korea, with which Trump has attempted to broker a deal to end long standing tensions with North Korea. Fifty-nine percent of those polled hold a favorable view of the United States, but just 17% have confidence in Trump, down drastically from 46% last year. By comparison, South Korea’s confidence in former U.S. President Barack Obama in South Korea was at 88% toward the end of his term in office.

•••••