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Poll: Countries don't trust U.S. in foreign affairs

By Ray Downs
U.S. Army M1A2 Abrams Tanks assigned to armored units with the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, are in position at the railhead in Swietozow, Poland, on January 9. Despite the U.S. military relationships with many countries around the world, the confidence of people in many allied countries has fallen under President Donald Trump. File Photo by U.S. Staff Sgt. Timothy D. Hughes/U.S. Army
U.S. Army M1A2 Abrams Tanks assigned to armored units with the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, are in position at the railhead in Swietozow, Poland, on January 9. Despite the U.S. military relationships with many countries around the world, the confidence of people in many allied countries has fallen under President Donald Trump. File Photo by U.S. Staff Sgt. Timothy D. Hughes/U.S. Army

June 27 (UPI) -- The image of the United States around the world has dropped sharply since the election of President Donald Trump, with most countries having little confidence in the country to "do the right thing in foreign affairs."

Out of 37 countries polled by Pew Research, ratings fell in every country except for two: Israel and Russia.

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Sweden had the highest drop, going from 93 percent when Barack Obama was president at this time last year to 10 percent under Trump, for a drop of 83 percent.

Netherlands' and Germany's impression of the U.S. government fell 75 percent each, with South Korea and France rounding out the Top 5 with 71 percent and 70 percent drops, respectively.

Mexico -- where Trump has proposed building a wall along the border -- came in at 14th. Five percent of Mexicans polled have confidence in the U.S. government. The country had a 49 percent favorable view of the U.S. government in 2016.

On the United States' northern border, Canada came in at 7th with a 61 percent drop, going from 83 percent to 22 percent.

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This marked the first time in 35 years that the majority of Canadians had an unfavorable view of the United States.

On the other end of the spectrum, the United States increased confidence in Russians, despite the U.S. intelligence community's belief that the Russian government used tactics to sway the 2016 presidential election between Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

According to Pew, 52 percent of Russians believe the United States will do the right thing in foreign affairs, compared to 11 percent in 2016.

The United States' staunch ally, Israel, which receives billions of dollars from Washington every year for military spending, increased its positive view of the United States from 49 percent in 2016 to 56 percent in the new poll.

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