Donald Trump has greatly diminished Brand USA and it's going to take one genius of a crisis manager to restore luster to the country's image overseas.
That's a takeaway from Pew Research Center's study released June 26 about the perception of the US. Pew polled 40,000 people living in 37 countries.
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The survey found that Trump and his policies are "broadly unpopular around the globe" More than half of the respondents in 26 of the nations polled consider Trump dangerous.
Just 22 percent of overall respondents have confidence that Trump would do the right thing in international affairs. That figure compares to the 64 percent who expressed confidence in Barack Obama.
The Trump brand though is downright toxic in key ally nations such as Germany. Only 11 percent of Germans are confident that Trump will do the right thing, compared to an 86 percent score for Barack Obama.
Pew found that America's image fell most in places where confidence in Trump tanked the most. Less than half (49 percent) of those polled hold a favorable view of the US. That's down from 64 percent under Obama.
Trump's policies such as building a wall along the US-Mexico border, withdrawing from the Paris Accord/trade deals and restrictions on travel from some Muslim-majority countries are universally jeered.
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The scoreboard on Trump's characteristics: arrogant (75 percent), intolerant (65 percent), dangerous (62 percent), strong leader (55 percent), charismatic (39 percent), well qualified to be president (26 percent) and caring about ordinary people (23 percent).
The views of America's once vaunted "soft power" have slipped, according to Pew. Forty-six percent of respondents now "dislike" vs. "like" "American ideas about democracy." Fifty-four percent consider it "bad" vs. "good" that "American ideas are spreading here."
But here's the survey's bombshell. Canadians don't like us anymore. For the first time since Pew's been polling, The Great White North's favorability ratings toward its southern neighbor fell below 50 percent. Only 43 percent of Canadians now have a positive image of the US.
Thanks, Donald. In the immortal words of George W. Bush, "You've done a heckuva job."
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