The World's Confidence in the United States Has Plummeted Since Trump Took Office

Over 70 percent of the world lacks confidence in President Donald Trump's leadership abilities, according to a recent Pew Research Poll survey, which cites declining trust in U.S. leadership "to do the right thing regarding world affairs" among longtime U.S. allies like Germany, France, Japan, Mexico, and Canada.

Only Russia and Israel have seen an increase in approval of U.S. leadership since Donald Trump took the reins from President Barack Obama in January. According to the survey, 53 percent of Russians and 57 percent of Israelis are confident in Donald Trump's ability to lead the world. 

But U.S. favorability elsewhere is bleak. Only 22 percent of respondents expressed confidence that Trump will "do the right thing regarding world affairs," while Putin received a 27 percent confidence rating.

Under Obama, over 92 percent of Germans expressed confidence in U.S. leadership. With Trump in office, that number has fallen to 11 percent. In Mexico, where U.S. presidents have typically vacillated in favorability, Donald Trump received a dismal 5 percent confidence rating. 

The United States' declining favorability is largely a byproduct of Donald Trump's policies, according to the survey. Seventy-six percent of the respondents opposed Trump's campaign promise to build a 1,954-mile wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, and 71 percent disagree with Trump's withdrawal from major international climate change agreements. Over half of respondents disagree with Trump's travel ban from Muslim-majority countries, as well as his withdrawal from major free trade agreements and the Iran nuclear deal. 

In a Pew survey at the end of his final term, President Obama received a 64 percent approval rating.