When it comes to North Korea, Canadians have a difficult time trusting U.S. President Donald Trump to sufficiently handle the escalating tensions, according to a new poll.
A survey released Tuesday by Abacus Data found that only seven per cent of Canadians have “a great deal” of confidence in Trump’s ability to handle the situation. It added that 17 per cent of Canadians have “some” confidence in Trump, while 32 per cent have “not very much,” and 44 per cent have “none at all.”
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The report also found that 84 per cent of Canadians think the president has increased the risk of conflict with North Korea; 16 per cent felt he had decreased it.
Bruce Anderson, the chairman of the polling firm, said in a statement that their latest poll is just one more sign of how “dismayed” Canadians are with the political situation south of the border.
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“The profound lack of confidence in the U.S. president to handle such a critical risk is unusual and another signal of how dismayed most Canadians are at the way that Mr. Trump is approaching his responsibilities.”
Anderson noted that Conservative respondents largely held similar views to Liberal and NDP voters, which suggests the “Trump base” in Canada is at a new low.
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About 12 per cent of Tories surveyed said they had confidence in Trump’s North Korea approach, compared to 4 per cent of Liberals and 6 per cent of New Democrats.
Canadians were also asked what they think Trump should do when it comes to North Korea. Most respondents (86 per cent) said the U.S. should try to arrive at a “diplomatic understanding” with the country, while 14 per cent backed military action.
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Similarly, 79 per cent thought Canada should advocate for diplomatic efforts. Twenty-one per cent felt Canada should support the U.S. if a conflict begins.
The Abacus survey shows Canadian concerns are in line with those of Americans, 61 per cent of whom said they were “uneasy” about Trump’s ability to handle the North Korea situation in a survey conducted by CBS News at the beginning of August. Thirty-five per cent of the 1,111 Americans adults surveyed for that poll said they were “confident” in the president.
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When asked how they feel about the possibility of a military conflict with North Korea, 72 per cent of Americans said they were “uneasy,” while 26 per cent were “confident things would be resolved.”
The surveys indicate many are hoping Trump prefers dialogue instead of military action, but the response from the president has been more aggressive.
Earlier in August, the president tweeted that the United States was “locked and loaded,” and urged North Korea to act wisely. He also pledged to retaliate against any military action from the country with “fire and fury.”
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But other U.S. officials have insisted things won’t go that way.
CIA Director Mike Pompeo told CBS News last week that “there’s nothing imminent” when it comes to military conflict with North Korea.
The Abacus Data survey was conducted online by 1,500 Canadian adults between Aug. 11 and 15. The margin of error is +/- 2.6%, 19 times out of 20.
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