Poll: Most think US less respected internationally

A majority of Americans believes that the U.S. is less respected for its global leadership than it has been in the past, according to an NBC News/SurveyMonkey poll released early Wednesday.

Sixty-one percent of respondents said the U.S. is less respected, with 24 percent saying they believe the country is more respected and 13 percent saying the U.S. is as respected at it has been.

The poll also found that 59 percent of those polled are “not at all confident” or “not very confident” that the U.S. government is doing enough to prevent future election interference from other countries.

{mosads}

A plurality of respondents, 43 percent, also said that they think Russia is unfriendly towards the U.S., with 25 percent saying they viewed the country as an enemy. That’s an increase from a July 2017 poll, when 40 percent and 13 percent, respectively, of respondents labeled the country as unfriendly or an enemy.

This poll was conducted before President Trump’s recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump initially sided with Putin’s denials of Russia’s election meddling at a press conference following their private meeting, a statement that drew massive backlash.

Trump attempted to clarify his comments during a brief statement to press on Tuesday.

“I accept our intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election took place,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

“Could be other people also. A lot of people out there,” he added.

Trump also said Tuesday that the U.S. is doing all it can to stop future election interference by Russia.

NBC News/Survey Monkey surveyed 5,314 American adults from July 9-15. The poll has a margin of error of 1.8 percentage points.