The president’s own actions on the world stage also may be shaping global public opinion. Early in 2019,
reports emerged that Trump discussed withdrawing the U.S. from NATO. Later in the year he abruptly announced a U.S. troop
withdrawal from Syria, a move that left Kurdish allies in the fight against terrorists in that country
feeling abandoned. Trump last year also instigated more trade wars with countries and freely criticized various world leaders.
Those foreign policy moves only reinforced new global worries over U.S. foreign policy after Trump ordered the Jan. 3 killing of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani by a drone strike in Baghdad, a move that
immediately drew criticism from U.S. opponents and concern from America’s allies. The reaction in the Middle East was immediate.
Iraq’s Parliament called for the expulsion of all U.S. forces from the country and Iran, vowing to retaliate against the U.S., said it would abandon the 2015 nuclear deal.
The past year has witnessed a growing global pushback against Trump. Former Irish president
Mary Robinson chastised Trump for showing poor global leadership. And 2019 closed with leaders of U.S. allies appearing to
joke about the U.S. president at a NATO summit.
"His (Trump's) behavior has raised many eyebrows," says Karel Lannoo, CEO of the Centre for European Policy Studies, a nonpartisan think tank based in Brussels.
Statements by Trump had raised concern in
Japan and
South Korea, America's closest allies in East Asia. But it is clear now that Washington will remain highly engaged in the region, says Zhang Baohui, professor of political science and director of the Centre for Asian-Pacific Studies at Lingnan University in Hong Kong. "They understand that the new China policy of the U.S. should imply that Washington will not vacate the region," Zhang said in an email.