A Gallup survey titled “Rating World Leaders: 2018 The U.S. vs. Germany, China and Russia” finds that US President Donald J. Trump is not well liked in the Americas and in Europe, but has a solid following in Asia and Africa. Israel stands out as one of the top most pro-Trump nations.
In response to the question, “Do you approve or disapprove of the job performance of the leadership of the United States?” President Trump’s highest approval in the Americas came from the Dominican Republic – 42%, with 41% disapproving, a stunning drop of 18% from former president Barack Obama’s numbers.
In Europe, Trump only received higher approval compared with disapproval ratings in three countries: Kosovo, with 75% approval and 13% disapproval – which is still a 7% drop from Obama’s numbers; Albania with 72% approval and 13% disapproval, 4% less than Obama; and Poland, 56% of whose respondents like Trump and 24% don’t – which marks an 8% rise over Obama’s numbers.
By the way, Trump’s lowest approval rating in Europe was recorded in Iceland, 8%, with 77% disapprove, a 25% drop compared with Obama. In Russia, where 8% of respondents also approved of Trump, compared to 58% who didn’t, this apparently represents a 6% rise in popularity since the last resident of the White House.
Israel tops Trump’s fan club in Asia and Oceania, with 67% supporting Trump and 24% opposing – a jump of 14% over Obama. It is followed by the Philippines with 59% approval vs. 32% disapproval – a 12% fall from Obama’s score; Mongolia, where 56% like Trump and 18% don’t – better than Obama by 4%; and Cambodia, where 55% favor Trump and 10% don’t, 12% down from Obama’s ratings.
The Palestinian Authority is one of the enigmas in this Gallup poll, not because only 12% of the respondents there approve of Trump and a whopping 72% disapprove, but because these abysmal numbers represent a 1% improvement over Obama’s.
Despite Trump’s famous use of pejorative adages to describe African countries, the dark continent has the highest approval ratings for the US president: as many as 23 African countries have positive approval numbers, the most glowing of which come from Guinea 71%, Togo 70%, Central African Republic 68%, Ghana 66%, Congo (Kinshasa) 64%, Gabon 63%, Kenya 62%, and Liberia 61%.