While neither Donald Trump nor Vladimir Putin are very popular around the world, a new Pew Research Center survey finds people in countries around the world have more confidence in the Russian leader on handling international relations.
“Although confidence in Putin’s handling of foreign affairs is generally low, in many countries he is more trusted than American President Donald Trump,” the non-partisan survey group wrote in the poll which focused on global perceptions of Russia.
Of the 36 countries surveyed, Pew said 22 said they have more confidence in Putin. That included countries such as Germany, Mexico, South Korea and Japan. Thirteen countries said they had great confidence in Trump. Those included Australia, Canada, the UK, India and Poland.
Tanzanians were equally split about Trump and Putin. China was not polled.
In the United States, Pew found 53 percent of Americans had confidence in Trump compared to 23 percent for Putin.
The survey was conducted between February 16 and May 8 and was before Trump used the words “fire and fury” when talking about a possible U.S. reaction to an attack by North Korea on the United States or any of its territories.
The survey was also done before Trump signed a bill strengthening sanctions on Russia and Russia’s expulsion of U.S. diplomats in retaliation.
Despite the tension, Pew found Russians and Americans have improved impressions of one another . Pew found that 41 percent of Russians view the United States favorably, which was up 15 points from 2015. Twenty-nine percent of Americans said they had a favorable view of Russia, up seven points from 2015.
Overall 60 percent of those surveyed said they lack confidence in Putin compared to 26 percent who said he was doing a good job.
Nearly one in three countries see Russia as a threat to their country, which is about on par with how the US and China are viewed.