Views of the Trump Administration: Pew Survey Results for Japan, Korea and Russia

Pew has been polling foreign publics for some time on views of the United States, and in a recent effort has added a number of questions on the Trump administration. We don’t have results from North Korea, obviously, nor even from China; I report here the findings for the three other Six Party players: South Korea, Japan and Russia.

The first graph shows overall favorability ratings of the US, combining very and somewhat favorable. Although data is interrupted, the Bush administration saw a falloff in support in Japan, but in both Korea and Japan public opinion picked up during the Obama administration. The latest data from “spring 2017” shows a falloff in both countries, with Japan seeing a larger hit to US standing. In Russia, but contrast, the trends were the opposite, tanking at the tail end of the Obama administration as relations soured over Crimea and Ukraine, but turning up strongly after Trump’s election.

This positive assessment from Russia is confirmed in Q36 on how the relationship is likely to fare going forward. A solid share of citizens in the two Asian allies—in the 40s—say things are likely to get worse, with much smaller numbers seeing relations improving. In Russia, by contrast, publics were more positive on the future.

When turning from overall perceptions of the US and the broad relationship to questions about the new American president, however, the assessments turn more negative. Fully three-quarters of publics in Japan and Korea say that Mr. Trump is not “well-qualified” to be President. Roughly half in both countries say that he is a strong leader, but majorities claim that he is intolerant and overwhelming majorities say he is arrogant. One particularly interesting difference between Japan and Korea is that a decidedly larger majority in South Korea thinks that President Trump is “dangerous.” All of these views are roughly opposite in Russia, with two-thirds claiming he is a strong leader and well-qualified.

While Japanese and Korean publics see trouble ahead with the new administration, Russians were more positive. That is likely to change. 

Economic issues clearly loom large in these assessments in both Korea and Japan, where large majorities—and a particularly large one in Korea—disapprove of Trump’s withdrawal from major trade agreements; support for KORUS in Korea may be higher than is thought. Large majorities also disapprove of US withdrawal from the Paris climate accord. Again, Russian publics are less concerned about these multilateral issues.

In sum, while Japanese and Korean publics see trouble ahead with the new administration and have doubts about President Trump, Russians were more positive. With the new sanctions bill and ongoing investigation of the Russian interference in the US election, that is likely to change.