Donald Trump Losing Republican Support for Handling of Foreign Policy, ISIS: Poll
President Donald Trump is losing support among Republican voters for his foreign policy and handling of the Islamic State militant group in the wake of his decision to pull U.S. troops out of northeastern Syria, paving the way for an invasion by Turkey against America's Kurdish allies.
According to the Reuters/Ipsos poll, 73 percent of Republicans approved of Trump's foreign policy and 75 percent approved of how he is tackling Islamic State, the militant group that had established a now-defunct quasi-state across parts of Syria and Iraq.
While those numbers are high, they are down 6 points and 8 points respectively from April after several Republican lawmakers publicly criticized Trump for his actions on Syria, including South Carolina GOP Senator Lindsey Graham, who regularly supports the president in the media.
Trump defended his troop withdrawal, saying Turkey and the Kurds should be left alone to fight it out. But the president's critics accuse him of abandoning America's allies to a massacre by the Turks. There are reports of many civilian casualties emerging from Turkish bombings.
Moreover, Russia has now stepped in to mitigate the situation, handing it greater influence over the region, contrary to the strategic goals of the U.S. State Department.
On Islamic State, Trump has repeatedly taken credit for what he characterizes as the militant group's total defeat in Syria and Iraq. But the group continues to operate in the Middle East, although it has lost the territory it once held.
And the Turkish invasion of northern Syria, enabled by Trump's troop withdrawal, against Kurdish groups—which Ankara regards as terrorists—risked the release of members of the Islamic State and their families who were held in camps prisons guarded by Kurds.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll of 4,083 adults, which was conducted online between October 18 and 22, found that 46 percent of Americans support the impeachment of Trump against 40 percent who oppose it.
Independents are increasingly supportive of impeachment. The poll showed that 45 percent support it against 32 percent who oppose it, up from around one in three supporters of impeachment shown in previous versions of the poll.
House Democrats opened an impeachment inquiry into Trump over his conduct towards Ukraine. He is accused of soliciting the interference of a foreign government in the 2020 election for his own benefit under the threat of withholding military aid. Trump denies any wrongdoing.
"To me, the word impeachment is a dirty, disgusting word. I didn't do a reason to be impeached," Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Monday, adding that impeachment efforts are a response to his alleged popularity and that he is on course to win again in 2020.
