Donald Trump has done one thing * really * well as president
* In the UK, 83% had a positive view of the US in 2000. Now only 41% feel the same way, the lowest number ever in Pew’s data.
* In Germany, only 26% now look positively at the United States – down from 78% who said the same in 2000.
* In Canada, approval ratings for their southern neighbors have increased from 72% in 2000 to 35% now.
What explains the collapse? Well, mostly Trump. The average rating of 13 countries for trusting Trump to do the right thing in global affairs is just 16%. This includes 25% in Japan and 9% in Belgium.
Trump’s dismal assessments are closely tied to perceptions of how he led the United States during the coronavirus pandemic. Across all 13 countries, an average of 15% said the US has done a good job dealing with Covid-19.
What’s exciting about these numbers is that both Trump’s allies and critics will use them to make their point.
Trump and his supporters will cite the Pew data as evidence that other countries do not like it when the United States stops allowing itself to take advantage of it and fend for itself.
For Trump’s opponents, these numbers prove the damage he has done.
Here’s what it is Frequently Obvious: Trump represents a fundamental break with the policies and strategic approach that every president after WWII – regardless of party – chose to follow. And his muscle isolation has consequences.
the pointWe’ve never been here before in the modern presidency and the post-WWII world. It is another line that Trump not only crossed, but reversed.
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