Trump slumps in the world

Donald Trump has an image problem and it’s universal. 

According to a recent PEW Research Center survey, only 22% of the global population has the confidence that US President Donald Trump would do the right thing regarding world affairs. The results come as a surprise when taken into account, Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who has been called an authoritarian, has the trust of 27% of those polled. US’ image has fallen sharply globally as an earlier PEW survey projected that 64% of the world population viewed the country favourably under the presidency of Barack Obama.

 The survey polled 40,448 people across 37 countries across the world.

 

 

Ever since Donald Trump became the president, his White House has been embroiled in multiple controversies. In fact, a day after he assumed office, there were multiple protests against him across the world. The executive order he signed in January calling for a “travel ban” targeting citizens from six majority-Muslim countries has drawn criticism for being “anti-Muslim.” He has also sparked ire from the international community for withdrawing the US from the Paris Climate Agreement. It must be noted that the survey was concluded before the US pulled out of the climate agreement. The current scenario may be less favourable.

 

Additionally in the last five months, he has also been perceived as belligerent. There were reports of his hostility towards German Chancellor Angela Merkel (someone he has openly criticised through his Twitter account). And, a video of him pushing aside the leader of Montenegro during the NATO summit went viral across social media and other platforms. The frequent use of his Twitter account to mount attacks against rivals has drawn flack.

Perhaps for these very reasons and more, respondents of the survey described Trump largely as “arrogant, intolerant and even dangerous.”

 

 

Despite the fact Putin is seen as an adversary in many of the countries that were polled, respondents showed more trust in him than the sitting president of one of the biggest democracies in the world. Trump’s approval is lower than the rating received by George W Bush during the Iraq War. Unsurprisingly, in this new world order, Angela Merkel received a much higher rating with an approval of 42% of those polled. Her approval rating is close to 60% overall in Europe.

 

Ratings for Trump have dropped significantly in nearly every ally country including most of Europe. In Mexico only 5% say that they trust him. The only two countries where his ratings have gone up are Israel and Russia. But it isn’t all bad news for Trump. 55% said that they viewed him as a strong leader.

 

 

Our assessment is that if US’ image continues to plummet, then it may soon lose its soft-power in economics, politics and on the social front. Right after the travel ban was instated, international travel to the US dropped by 6.5% in 8 days. The trend has continued with lesser people keen on travelling to the US. Projections note that this will cost the country billions of dollars. But it isn’t just the travel industry that will be affected. Currently the US is engaged in military conflict in regions like Syria and international approval would be necessary if the country wants to continue leading its war on terrorism. Given that his favourability numbers within his own country is less than 40%, the new president might find himself increasingly on his own. In fact, a country in a Middle East took a position against Donald Trump by questioning Trump’s own popularity in his home country. Ultimately America’s self-proclaimed status as the de-facto “leader of the world” is very much threatened. And it will be hard for the US to reclaim its position as a leader which it has enjoyed since World War I.