US President trumps cost of living crisis in Aussie annoyance stakes
Australians have weighed in on the controversial US President and his right-hand man, billionaire Elon Musk. See what they said.
National
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People are more annoyed by Donald Trump than the cost of living crisis while more than 60 per cent of Australians believe the US is heading in the wrong direction under the US President.
Exclusive analysis of 1342 respondents from News Corp’s Lighthouse Consumer Sentiment Tracker has also revealed that Australians do not like billionaire and key Trump ally Elon Musk.
Respondent feedback on Mr Trump include comments that the US president is a “loud mouth idiot” who appeared to be “trying to destroy America.
“The thought that he will be in power for the next four years is horrifying,” said one commenter.
News Corp head of research James Taylor said prior to Mr Trump, cost of living had for the past three months been the dominant response from respondents when asked “What is the thing at the moment that’s really annoying”.
“But this month for the first time we are seeing that more people are saying that Donald Trump is annoying them than the cost of living.”
The research also found that about 39 per cent believe the US is reliable compared to 86 per cent who think New Zealand is reliable.
Nearly two-thirds of Australians want defence independence from the US but don’t see China has a viable alternative, with 43 per cent wanting closer ties with the US superpower.
Mr Taylor said the “vibe” of the analysis was that Australians did not like Mr Trump and would likely reject any attempts to imitate the US president.
“I think the one thing he’s [Mr Trump] is doing is picking fights with everybody,” he said.
“I think Australians would respond to a fight that’s been picked with them quite negatively, the same way when China picked a fight with us.
“Australia is not a country that just rolls over, we have a proud history.”
Despite the majority of voters rejecting Mr Trump, there was a split along party allegiances. About three quarters of ALP voters believed the US was becoming a force for bad in the world compared to 56 per cent of Coalition voters.
Older people including Baby Boomers and pre-Boomers despaired over Trump the most at 73 per cent.
The GIC research also found that respondents viewed non-Western powers and Middle Eastern countries more negatively. About 70 per cent had a negative view of Russia.
In contrast, Australians had a positive view of countries such as New Zealand, Canada and Japan.
About 74 per cent viewed New Zealand as a force for good as well 66 per cent having a favourable view of Canada, 61 per cent of Japan and 57 per cent of the UK.
The research indicates that Australians prefer stable democracies over autocratic nations.
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