Five Countries Where People Have Confidence in Trump

 

Only one in five people in 37 nations are confident President Donald Trump¹ will do the right thing when it comes to international issues.

But the United States president enjoys strong support from people in five countries – the Philippines, Vietnam, Nigeria, Israel and Russia.

The information comes from a recent poll of over 40,000 people living in 37 countries by the Pew Research Center of Washington D.C.

In the Philippines, 69 percent of people said they are confident Trump would do the right thing when it comes to international issues. In Vietnam and Nigeria, the percentage is 58 percent. Former President Barack Obama had the confidence of even higher majorities in the three countries.

Trump also has the confidence of a majority of people in Russia and Israel.

In Russia, the percentage of people who believe Trump will do the right thing on international issues is 53 percent. That is up from 11 percent for Obama during his final years in office. In Israel, the percentage is 56 percent, up from 49 percent for Obama.

The median percentage of people having confidence in Trump for all 37 nations surveyed is 22 percent, Pew reported. By median, Pew means there are equal percentages of people falling above or below the median percentage.

Most support in Philippines

It is in the Philippines that people gave Trump the highest confidence ratings.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Trump have enjoyed good relations. Both are known for strongly criticizing political opponents, even when doing so is controversial.

In an April telephone discussion, Trump praised Duterte for doing an "unbelievable job on the drug problem," according to a Philippine government report of the discussion.

Duterte is accused by international human rights groups of supporting a campaign of killing² drug suspects in the Philippines. His government has denied the charges. But Reuters reported that almost 9,000 people were killed in the Philippines since Duterte took office on June 30, 2016. Many of them were small-time drug users and dealers³,

While a large majority of Filipinos has confidence in Trump’s ability on international issues, Pew said 68 percent disagreed with Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris climate change agreement.

Vietnamese people show confidence in Trump

People in Vietnam also show confidence in President Trump.

Communist Vietnam has gone from being a Cold War enemy to an important ally to the U.S. in Southeast Asia. Both countries have shared concerns about China’s increased influence in the region.

Vietnam and China have competing claims over the South China Sea, but the disputes have grown worse in recent years. The U.S. has no territorial⁴ claims in the area. But the Trump administration has continued to send warships⁵ to protect freedom of navigation in the area.

On May 31, Trump met with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at the White House. The two leaders announced new trade deals between the two countries.

Vietnam's government also reported that Trump and Phuc agreed to increase defense⁶ ties and discussed the possibility of U.S. vessels⁷, including aircraft carriers, visiting Vietnamese ports.

Sale of U.S. planes to Nigeria

Nigeria, like the Philippines, has also been known for strong, powerful leaders.

Unlike previous presidents, Trump has rejected critics who charge Nigeria’s security forces with human rights violations⁸. A few months ago, the Trump administration announced plans to sell high-tech⁹ airplanes to Nigeria for its campaign against Boko Haram Islamic extremists.

I’m Bruce Alpert.

Words in This Story

confident - adj. having a feeling or belief that you can do something well or succeed at something

poll - n. an activity in which several or many people are asked a question or a series of questions in order to get information about what most people think about something

according - preposition, as stated, reported, or recorded by someone

controversial - adj. relating to or causing much discussion, disagreement, or argument

high-tech - adj. relating to or using new electronic devices and technology

drill - v. to make a hole in something with a drill to pull out resources such as oil and natural gas

aircraft carrier - n. a ship big enough for airplanes to land and takeoff from its deck

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

3 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

4 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

5 warships   

军舰，战舰( warship的名词复数 )； 舰只

参考例句：

• The enemy warships were disengaged from the battle after suffering heavy casualties. 在遭受惨重伤亡后，敌舰退出了海战。
• The government fitted out warships and sailors for them. 政府给他们配备了战舰和水手。

6 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

7 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

9 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。