Survey: Majority of Americans Satisfied With US Position in World
NATIONAL HARBOR, MARYLAND – FEBRUARY 26: Trump hats are on display at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference at Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center February 26, 2020 in National Harbor, Maryland. U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to address the annual event on February 29th. Alex Wong/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by ALEX WONG / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
VOA News
A new Gallup survey released Thursday shows that 53% of respondents, led by those who identified as Republicans, are satisfied with the position of the United States in the world.
That figure is up 8 percentage points from last year and is the highest since 2003.
Gallup reported a sharp partisan divide, but one the agency said is common in the past two decades depending on which party controls the White House.
GOP satisfaction
With Republican Donald Trump in office, 85% of Republicans said they were satisfied with the U.S. position, while just 19% percent of Democrats agreed.
Republicans also helped elevate the number of those who said the United States is seen favorably “in the eyes of the world.”
Gallup’s poll found 16% of those surveyed rated perception of the U.S. as very favorable, while another 44% said it was somewhat favorable. And 83% of Republican respondents picked one of those two positive options.
World’s respect
And while Trump did reach his highest level in Gallup polling on the question of whether other world leaders respect him, that score was just 37% of people saying foreign leaders respect Trump, compared with 61% saying the leaders do not.
Gallup said Trump’s score is similar to that of Republican President George W. Bush at the same time in his presidency, but far behind the 51% of Trump’s predecessor, Democratic President Barack Obama.