A majority of voters said in a new poll on Friday that they aren’t confident that President Trump’s personal diplomacy with North Korea will ultimately result in denuclearization.
According to the Hill-HarrisX poll, 54 percent of Americans said they didn’t believe Trump’s close relationship with North Korea leader Kim Jong Un would ultimately result in denuclearization, compared to 31 percent who said that they were confident that Trump’s approach would result in North Korea giving up its nuclear ambitions.
Another 16 percent of voters were either unsure or said they didn’t know.
Voters were divided along party lines on the issue.
Seventy percent of Democrats said they weren’t confident in Trump’s approach, compared to just 35 percent of Republicans who said the same. More than half of Independents — 56 percent — sided with Democrats, saying that Trump’s personal relationship wouldn’t ultimately lead to denuclearization.
The poll comes amid ongoing denuclearization talks between the U.S. and North Korea.
The Trump administration has been pushing for Kim to abandon his nuclear weapons once and for all. But so far, the North Korean leader hasn’t taken any steps towards doing so and the two countries have yet to reach a deal.
North Korea instead restarted its ballistic missile tests earlier this year for the first time since 2017.
Trump downplayed the renewed tests, insisting that there is “no rush” to strike a denuclearization deal with North Korea. He has also repeatedly touted his personal relationship with Kim as a positive development for his foreign policy.
Just last week, Trump boasted about his friendly relationship with Kim, saying the North Korean leader was happy to see him during their last meeting in June.
Trump has received criticism for his unusually close relationship with Kim, a foreign dictator who has accused of starving his own people among other human rights violations.
The two men have held two face-to-face summits over the past year, and last month Trump made history by becoming the first sitting U.S. president to cross into North Korea following a meeting at the Demilitarized Zone.
—Tess Bonn
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