Now, Mr. President. Thanks to You, Now.
On June 1 the leader of the free world stood in the vaunted Rose Garden of the White House to tell the world America was withdrawing from the all-important Paris Agreement on climate change, putting the U.S. in the same camp as Syria and Nicaragua. The former is in a civil war with millions dead, the latter refused to join because the agreement did not go far enough.
“At what point does America get demeaned?” Trump asked, rhetorically. “At what point do they start laughing at us, as a country?”
That point probably had come long before his June 1 press conference, but a report released Monday by the Pew Research Center makes it official: America’s standing in the world has cratered.
Under President Barack Obama, 64 percent of the 37 nations surveyed had confidence in the U.S. President, and by extension, America. Today, under President Donald Trump, just 22 percent do.Â
“Trump and many of his key policies are broadly unpopular around the globe, and ratings for the U.S. have declined steeply in many nations,” Pew, which examined both Trump’s credibility and the favorability of the U.S. around the world, reports.
The problem isn’t only that the world is laughing at Trump, as damaging as that is tom the U.S. presidency. The problem is that now the world sees America as unreliable and untrustworthy.
The dramatic drop is mind-numbing.
In Sweden, for example, President Obama has a 93 percent credibility rating. Today in Sweden President Trump has a 10 percent credibility rating.
In Germany, Obama was at 86 percent. Trump is at 11.
Japan’s Prime Minister was the first foreign leader to meet with Trump, even before he took office. Obama had a 78 percent credibility rating. Trump’s is just 24.
The UK: Obama 79, Trump 22 .
Brazil: Obama 63, Trump 14.
Unsurprisingly, Mexico. Obama 49, Trump? 5.
At the Toronto Star, Daniel Dale reports the thanks to Trump, “a majority of Canadians dislike the U.S. for the first time in 35 years, likely much longer.”
At no time since at least the early 1980s, and likely much earlier, has a majority of Canadians held a negative view of our neighbour and ally.
“Maybe it was pretty bad in 1812,†joked Environics Institute executive director Keith Neuman, “but there’s no data for that.â€
The rise of Trump has almost certainly caused the precipitous fall. Under Obama last year, 83 per cent of Canadians had confidence in the president to do the right thing in world affairs. Under Trump this year, it is a mere 22 per cent.
Out of the the 37 nations Pew surveyed, there are two nations that view Trump more favorably than Obama: Russia and Israel.
“At what point do they start laughing at us, as a country?”
Now, Mr. President. Thanks to you, now.
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