Germans view President Donald Trump‘s America as a greater foreign policy challenge than maintaining relations with authoritarian countries.
That’s according to a recent survey from Körber-Stiftung, a Germany-based political nonprofit. In fact, Germans see Trump as a greater threat to foreign policy than dealing with Vladimir Putin’s Russia, Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Turkey and Kim Jong Un’s North Korean regime, according to the findings.
READ: [U.S. Global Image Takes Beating Under Donald Trump]
The October survey of 1,005 Germans of voting age found that 19 percent of respondents consider Trump and the U.S. the greatest challenge currently facing Germany’s foreign policy. Relations with Turkey are considered a great foreign policy challenge by 17 percent of respondents, while 10 percent named North Korea and its nuclear program a great concern. Russia and Syria were considered challenges by 8 percent and 6 percent of respondents, respectively.
Only the issue of displaced refugees seeking asylum in Germany surpassed the U.S. as a greater foreign policy concern, with 26 percent of respondents calling it the biggest challenge.
The poll is the latest indication that the global perception of the U.S. has taken a number of hits in the Trump era.
The U.S. fell from the No. 4 Best Country to No. 7 in the 2017 U.S. News Best Countries Rankings, and a similar Pew Research Center poll released in June found that global perceptions of the country had become more negative — a trend tied in part to Trump and the divisive 2016 presidential election cycle.
MORE: [U.S. Falls in U.S. News Best Countries Rankings]
Critics of the Trump administration often condemn his “America First” approach to foreign affairs. That policy became a hallmark of the Republican’s 2016 run for office, and has since shaped his global leadership and reputation.
Of the Germans surveyed, more than half said the country’s relationship with the U.S. is now bad or very bad. Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have disagreed on several global issues since he assumed the Oval Office in January, including the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris climate agreement.
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Germany Views Donald Trump’s America as Greater Foreign Policy Challenge Than North Korea originally appeared on usnews.com
