Survey finds majority confident in Biden on foreign policy

A majority of Americans have confidence in President Biden’s ability to handle foreign policy, but more are confident in his ability to improve relations with U.S. allies than they are in his ability to deal effectively with China, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.

Sixty percent of Americans have confidence in Biden’s handling of foreign policy issues, according to the Pew Research report released on Wednesday, less than the 74 percent who expressed confidence in former President Obama’s ability to handle foreign policy issues when he came into office. The figure is higher, however, than the 46 percent who held confidence in former President Trump’s handling of foreign policy.

The survey shows sharp splits along partisan lines, with 88 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents having confidence in Biden on foreign policy compared with 27 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents.

The survey also found that while a large majority of the public has confidence in Biden’s ability to improve relations with U.S. allies, less believe he will deal effectively with China.

Sixty-seven percent are either somewhat or very confident Biden will be able to improve relations with allies, while only 32 percent have little or no confidence he’ll do so.

A slim majority — 53 percent — believe Biden will deal effectively with China, while 46 percent have little or no confidence he will do so. Biden receives stronger marks for his ability to deal effectively with terrorism threats and climate change and to make good decisions about the use of military force and international trade.

Biden came under criticism from Trump on the campaign trail as Republicans tried to frame him as soft on China. Biden has signaled he plans to take a firm approach to Beijing that focuses on competition with China rather than the type of confrontation that was a hallmark of the Trump administration.

Biden has sought to turn away from the “America first” approach that Trump took to foreign policy, emphasizing the importance of U.S. alliances and multilateral engagement. He held his first virtual bilateral meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday.

“I am sending a clear message to the world, America is back. The transatlantic alliance is back and we are not looking backward. We are looking forward together,” Biden said in remarks to a virtual Munich Security Conference last week.

Biden also said that he welcomed competition with China and emphasized the need for U.S. and European allies to work together to confront Russia’s aggressive behavior and China’s economic abuses and anti-democratic practices.

The Pew Research Center surveyed 2,596 American adults between Feb. 1 and Feb. 7. It has a margin of error of 2.7 points.