Most countries, including US allies, trust Putin more than Trump on foreign policy – poll

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Russia's President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump © Carlos Barria / Reuters

US allies Germany, France, Japan, and South Korea are among countries which trust Vladimir Putin more than Donald Trump in handling foreign affairs, a new Pew poll shows.

“In many countries he [Putin] is more trusted than American President Donald Trump,” according to a statement from the Pew Research Center on Wednesday. 

At least 36 countries from across the world took part in the survey.

The poll showed that at least seven EU countries trust Russian President Vladimir Putin more than US President Donald Trump. Greeks appear to have highest confidence in Putin (31 percent higher than their confidence in Trump), followed by Germany (with a +14-percent differential), and Hungary (+5 percent). Putin is also more trusted in France, Sweden, Italy, and Spain than his US counterpart.

© Pew Research Center / pewglobal.org

US allies Japan and South Korea also have more confidence in Putin than in Trump, the poll shows. Both countries have repeatedly expressed concerns over the situation with North Korea amid Washington’s ongoing war of words with Pyongyang. 

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South Korea, which has been staging military drills with the US in the region, trusts the Russian president more than the US leader by 10 percent.

Putin has more support among South American countries, including Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Peru, and Venezuela, according to the poll. Mexico, which has been highly critical of Trump’s intention to build a wall on its border, also supports Putin more than the US leader.

Close US allies Australia, Canada, and the UK trust Trump more than Putin, but the differences are strikingly small at 2-3 points.

Putin scored higher than Trump in 23 countries in the Pew poll. The US president has greater support in 13 countries, including Israel, Poland, the Philippines, and India.

The Putin-Trump poll is a part of a wider survey on security threats around the world. According to the Pew Research Center, many nations view the US, Russia, and China as major threats to their national security.