Trump’s PR Stunt In Syria Backfires Bigly As Americans Now Less Confident In The White House

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If Donald Trump thought his publicity stunt in Syria would make Americans feel better about his leadership skills and end Bashar al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons against his own people, he was sorely mistaken.

According to a new poll from ABC News/Washington Post, a larger number of Americans are less confident in the president than they are more confident because of his ineffective, politically motivated strike on Syria, and the vast majority of people think it won’t do much to help the situation in the region.

The numbers:

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Just 25 percent of the country believes the president’s military intervention in Syria will help end Assad’s use of chemical weapons, and more Americans say the strike makes them less likely to have confidence in Trump’s leadership or that it makes no difference at all.

Not to mention the fact that nearly 60 percent of the poll’s respondents said the bombing will worsen the U.S. relationship with Russia, despite Trump’s calculated efforts to never do or say anything to bug Moscow.

In short, not only was the commander-in-chief’s publicity stunt in Syria a political failure, but most Americans believe it was a strategic flop, too.

Trump hoped the imagery of another war in the Middle East would help distract from his scandals and rally the country around him, but it appears to have had, at best, no impact, and, at worst, a negative impact on the way Americans view him and the deteriorating situation in Syria.

The president can try, but so far it appears that he cannot bomb his way out of his political troubles.

Sean Colarossi

Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.