Half of active-duty military personnel are unhappy with President Trump

Half of active-duty military personnel hold an ‘unfavorable’ view of President Donald Trump, a shock poll has revealed. 

The figure is a drop of thirteen per cent compared to when the President took office in November 2016.

However, the results still put him above the former commander-in-chief of the armed forces, President Barack Obama, who slipped to a 51.5 per cent disapproval rating just before he left office after decreasing troop numbers and withdrawing from Iraq.

More than 1,600 US servicemen were asked for their views on Trump in the poll commissioned by the Military Times and the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University. It was conducted between October and December.

However, the President still achieved a higher approval rating than Barack Obama during his final term in office

The results appear to reflect growing dissatisfaction with the White House’s cack-handed defense policy and domestic agenda.

They also revealed Trump is more popular with military men than women, with 53 per cent of the latter ranking him as ‘very unfavorable’.

His military decisions also came in for criticism, with 58 per cent saying they disagreed with his decision to withdraw from northern Syria, and 59 per cent objected to his decision to use military funds to build the southern border wall.

And more than half said that relations with traditional NATO allies were ‘poor’. 

Former White House adviser to George W. Bush, Peter Feaver, warned the Military Times that these may only reflect a more career-minded subset of the military.

‘These are people for whom the morals and standards of the military mean a lot,’ he said.

‘The president has criticized those same career workers in the State Department and other agencies. So it’s possible they are more likely to be offended by the president than other parts of the military.’ 

The drop in support may be linked to a cack-handed foreign policy which saw the US withdraw from Syria. (Pictured: Trump in the Oval Office the day after the House of Representatives voted to impeach him)

It may also be linked to his decision to allocate military funds to the construction of the southern border wall. (Pictured: Trump speaking during a summit at the White House

Retired Marine Corporal Colonel Dave Lapan blamed Trump’s controversial military decisions for his decline in popularity.

‘Over time, as the president has been involved with more controversial things connected to the military – whether it’s the border wall or the pardons or the way that Secretary Mattis left – that has changed the view of him,’ he told the New York Post. 

During a controversial year in foreign policy, Trump withdrew troops from northeastern Syria encouraging Turkish troops to attack the country’s Kurdish allies, cranked up tensions with China and fired his defense secretary Jim Mattis.

The President has also faced lengthy impeachment proceedings over his dealings in Ukraine. 

However, the president may also have earned praise in military ranks for his decisive approach to the crisis with Iran.

Extra US troops and battleships were deployed to the region between May and June following attacks on four commercial vessels, including two that were Saudi-owned, and the arrest of British-flagged Stena Impero ship.

A diagram showing the U.S. and Iranian forces in the region and the location of recent attacks on oil tankers and a Saudi oil pipeline, following a flare up of tensions in June this year