Trump Approval Rating Ticks Up Slightly, So Do World War III Google Searches

A new Marist College poll out shows that Donald Trump’s approval rating has ticked up slightly. Trump’s approval rating has ticked up from three in 10 people approving of Donald Trump, to just under four in 10 people with 39 percent approval rating for Trump reports the Washington Post. Additionally, Google searches for the phrase “World War III” have also seen a dramatic surge in recent days in light of the many international conflicts Donald Trump is currently involved in, in North Korea, South Korea, Afghanistan, and Syria.

The Washington Post notes that the slight uptick in Trump’s approval rating today is likely due to the confirmation of his Supreme Court pick Neil Gorsuch, as well as his use of military action abroad. But with a surge in Google searches for the term “World War III” all across the globe, clearly many, particularly Koreans, are concerned what will be the next move of Donald Trump.

South Koreans have been protesting Donald Trump in recent days, with signs that read “Crazy Trump.”

Americans polled in the Marist College poll are giving Donald Trump an approval rating of 39 percent today. That is up slightly by two points from last week. But Koreans are not the only ones expressing dissatisfaction in how Donald Trump is handling foreign policy, says Lee Miringoff the director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion.

“As tensions mount, President Trump is facing a critical test as Commander in Chief. Instead of a rally around the flag effect, Americans are still looking for President Trump to provide leadership and more careful planning to arrive at sound policies.”

In the new Trump approval rating poll, 39 percent approve of Trump’s job performance with 49 percent disapproving. Fifty-four percent of voters say they have an unfavorable opinion of the president and 38 percent view him favorably. Forty percent say they approve of what he is doing overseas, and 49 percent say they disapprove.

But 70 percent of voters have noticed the tensions around the world are rising. The majority of Americans in the poll at 55 percent say they do not trust Donald Trump to do the right thing when it comes to war or international affairs. Fifty-eight percent said they had “little or no trust” that he knows what to do in an international crisis.

Fifty-five percent said they did not think he was able to come up with sound strategies in the face of war or an international crisis. Also, 54 percent said they do not think he is a good leader, and 52 percent said they do not believe he is able to keep America safe.

As far as Syria is concerned, 60 percent said Trump didn’t know what he was doing or did not have a “clear idea” with his Syria intentions. But 58 percent did support his air strikes in Syria.

The Washington Post notes that although there is a slight uptick in Trump’s approval rating today, it still “remains dreadful by historical standards.” Gallup puts Trump approval at 40 percent approving, and Real Clear Politics has Trump’s approval rating at 41.4 percent.

The Washington Post says it is highly unlikely due to Trump’s polarizing nature that he will ever go past his 46.1 percent approval rating he saw right after the election. It has been noted that Trump is losing his base slowly, with the hashtag #TrumpRegrets picking up steam since the election, as Trump voters express their disappointment over his various policy initiatives and broken promises.

I'm not going to make excuses! The golfing is wrong. Trump is a hypocrite now. This is a time of crisis and he's golfing #trumpregrets

— Just Dani™ ? (@JustDani2NT) April 14, 2017

The Washington Post also notes that Trump is still at risk of losing “Main Street” Republicans, as he has been unable to deliver on the GOP agenda of health care and tax care reform.

The slight uptick in all polls is attributed to his moves in Syria, and his Supreme Court pick. But Americans are still very concerned about what is happening abroad at a much larger global level. The Daily Mail is reporting that Google searches for the term “World War III” have seen a dramatic spike in recent days, a bigger spike than Google has seen in years.

This trend is being seen as warships move from the coast of North Korea and are being pointed at Syria. Google Data with Google Trends shows that people across the globe are becoming intrinsically concerned with the thought of World War III, despite Trump’s approval ratings. The Daily Mail says that searches for World War III in the search engines have hit their highest level since 2004.

Other relevant searches seeing an increase are “nuclear war” and “war” being viewed as the “highest level since the start of the year.” Related terms that Google offers when using Google trends are “Trump war” and “Syria war” which are also seeing an increase in searches.

After Trump’s air strikes in Syria, he sent Carrier Strike Group One to the Korean peninsula, prompting concern from Korean president Kim Jong-un who called the move “reckless.” Trump responded with a historical move, responding to the Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un by tweet, saying he was “looking for trouble.”

China is responding to the global crisis. Chinese Premier Xi Jinping has moved 150,000 troops to the border of north Korea anticipating a flood of refugees if Trump strikes North Korea. America has also sent troops to the borders for the same reason.

Americans have not been searching for these war terms since 2006 when North Korea was performing long-range missile tests. Shaun King of the New York Daily News writes of the concerns of the rising tensions.

“Now he is tweeting threats to North Korea…That tweet, from an American President, is being treated not like a rogue comment from an immoral, inexperienced reality TV star – which it is – but like an official statement from a man holding the highest office in the world. The fallout has been swift and scary.”

As Shaun King notes, China is already warning that North Korea will pay the price for these actions. Wang Yi, China’s Foreign Minister has said, “If a war occurs, the result is a situation in which everybody loses and there can be no winner.”

BREAKING: North Korea's vice foreign minister says President Trump is "making trouble" with "aggressive" tweets.

— The Associated Press (@AP) April 14, 2017

North Korea’s foreign minister has also issued a statement saying that Trump is “making trouble with his aggressive tweets.” As Adam Kahn notes, this is precisely what Hillary Clinton was talking about during the campaign when she said, “A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons.”

Now, those concerns are springing to life just three months after the election. Although Donald Trump’s approval rating today has taken a slight uptick since the Supreme Court confirmation, it is not good that world leaders are disapproving of him and calling him “reckless,” and that Google searches for “World War III” have gone up in the same week.

[Featured Image by Ahn Young-joon/AP Images]