6/8/18
President Trump traveled to Canada on Friday, much to his apparent chagrin. For days, Trump has been publicly challenging the country and its prime minister, Justin Trudeau; on Wednesday, CNN reported he had accused the Canadians of having burned down the White House in the War of 1812. (They did not.) Trump’s trip was on the occasion of the G-7 summit, a gathering of the leaders of many of the world’s largest economies: Germany, Italy, France, Japan and the United Kingdom, in addition to Trump and Trudeau. The leaders of many of those countries are similarly unenthusiastic about Trump or have sparred with him. He has fought with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, fought with French President Emmanuel Macron on Twitter and been chastised publicly by British Prime Minister Theresa May.
In 2016, 80 percent of countries had majorities that viewed the United States favorably. Views in the G-7 countries have slipped across the board. In fact, of the 37 countries surveyed, the percent of respondents viewing the United States favorably fell in 30 of them from 2016 to 2017. The exceptions? Israel (where there was no change), Jordan, Hungary, Nigeria, Greece and Vietnam — all of which saw increases in favorability of 6 points or fewer. Then there is Russia. Russia was skeptical of the United States in 2016 but embraced the country in 2017. Favorable views of the United States increased by 26 points from 2016 to 2017.Russia was once part of the G-7, back when it was known as the G-8. After Russian President Vladimir Putin seized Crimea from Ukraine, though, Russia was booted from the group. On Friday morning, before heading to Canada, Trump suggested Russia’s membership be reinstated. No wonder Russia loves the guy.