Page 9 - bne_newspaper_January_19_2018

bne Chart
January 19, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 9
East Europeans keener on Trump than Obama
bne IntelliNews
A year into Donald Trump’s presidency, the image of the US leadership has reached new lows, according to a new global survey from Gallup. But many countries across the CEE/CIS region defy the global trend, with approval of the US leadership increasing strongly.
This is despite an overall fall in approval of the US leadership to just 30% of respondents, down from 48% in 2016 when Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama was in power. The rating, based on surveys carried out in March-November 2016, is even four points before the previous low of 34% set by George W. Bush in the final year of his administration.
“Disapproval of US leadership increased almost as much as approval declined,” Gallup says. “The 43% median disapproval, up 15 points from the previous year, set a new record as well, not only for the US but for any other major global
power that Gallup has asked about in the past decade.”
It reports that Germany has replaced the US as the top-rated global power in the world. “The US is now on nearly even footing with China (31%) and barely more popular than Russia (27%),” according to the pollster.
Still, the poll reveals that in numerous East European countries from Poland to Mongolia approval for Trump’s leadership increased last year compared to 2016, in most by a modest 1-9 percentage points.
Macedonia (up 15 pp) and Belarus (up 11pp) were among just four countries worldwide where US leadership approval increased 10 points or more, with the other two being Israel and Liberia. There's speculation that the approval for Trump in Macedonia could