American adults have almost twice as much trust in the U.S. military leaders "to act responsibly in handling the situation involving North Korea" than President Donald Trump and nine times the trust any hold of Kim Jung Un, according to The Washington Post/ABC News poll released Sunday.
As President Trump and North Korea exchange words, and the United States flies jets near Kim's rogue country, Americans weighed in on where their confidence in this standoff lies, and an overwhelming majority trust U.S. military leaders to act responsibly."
Americans did not share the same confidence in Kim, as 72 percent of Americans hold a "great deal/good amount" of trust in the U.S. military leaders, while Kim drew just 8 percent of Americans in that level of trust.
President Trump, meanwhile, elicited a "great deal/good amount" of trust from 37 percent of Americans, almost five times the confidence in Kim acting "responsibly." The poll also showed 76 percent had no trust in the North Korean dictator, while 42 percent shared that same opinion of President Trump.
Among respondents, two-thirds believe the "U.S. should attack only if North Korea attacks first," with just 23 percent supporting a President Trump ordered U.S. military preemptive strike.
The Washington Post-ABC News poll was conducted via phone Sept. 18-21, 2017, surveying 1,002 adults in America with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.