Ratings for US president in South Korea on the rise after NK-US summit

US President Donald Trump (left) and German Chancellor Angela Merkel shake hands ahead of the 2017 G20 Hamburg summit. In a recent Pew Research Center poll, Merkel was named as the most confident world leader. (AP)

Confidence ratings for Trump plummet worldwide in Pew Research survey

US President Donald Trump ranked lowest for confidence among leaders of major countries including China, Russia, and the United Kingdom, opinion poll results show. The US’ image was also found to have fallen sharply among allies in Europe since Trump took office. But in South Korea’s case, confidence in Trump has risen significantly in the wake of a North Korea-US summit in June.

The Pew Research Center, a specialized US public opinion research institution, published findings on Oct. 1 on confidence in the leaders of the US and other major nations as rated by 26,000 respondents in 25 countries.

Confidence ratings for five world leaders according to the Pew Research Center published on Oct. 1 (Pew Research Center website)

The findings showed Trump as the lowest rated leader in terms of confidence in his handling of international issues. German Chancellor Angela Merkel received the highest rating for confidence. In Trump’s case, 27% of respondents said they had confidence in him, while fully 70% said they had no confidence. The percentage of respondents expressing confidence in Trump was lower than for either Chinese President Xi Jinping (34%) or Russian President Vladimir Putin (30%).

In contrast, Merkel had the highest confidence ratings among the five leaders examined, with 52% of respondents answering that they had confidence in her and 31% saying they did not. French President Emmanuel Macron also ranked high for confidence as a leader, with 46% of respondents saying they had no confidence in him to 34% saying they did not.

Confidence in the US was found to have dropped sharply among European countries since Trump took office. In Germany, ratings of confidence in the US stood above 90% during the administration of predecessor Barack Obama, but have fallen to 10% during the Trump presidency. Among French respondents as well, confidence has recently plunged to 9% from over 90% during the previous administration.

The Pew Research Center attributed the rock-bottom international confidence ratings of Trump as the result of his unilateral “America first” foreign policies. Indeed, Trump has faced criticism in many European countries for his unexpected moves since taking office, including withdrawing from the Paris Agreement on climate change and unilaterally scrapping a nuclear agreement with Iran.

The results of a study that compares global confidence in the US under the administrations of George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump. (Pew Research Center website)

Confidence ratings for US drop in wake up Trump’s “America First” policies

In contrast, confidence in Trump among South Korean respondents jumped to 44% this year from 17% in 2017. The percentage of South Koreans expressing a positive view of the US also rose from 75% to 80%. The results were seen as having been influenced by the climate of peace formed on the Korean Peninsula with the North Korea-US summit.

By Ock Kee-won, staff reporters

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