There's always an element of intent and design when trust in government plummets under Republican administrations and congresses but, to really sink the image of a country in such a short period of time, you must be exceptionally inept and corrupt.
Enter Donald Trump.
Trump has set a new all-time record by presiding over the biggest drop in confidence in a single year.
via Bloomberg:
Americans’ trust in their institutions has suffered the biggest deterioration ever recorded since President Donald Trump took over the White House, according to a survey of global attitudes compiled by the New York-based public-relations firm Edelman. [...]
“Trust in America, of American citizens, has imploded,” Chief Executive Officer Richard Edelman said at an event in Davos, Switzerland on Tuesday. “Among informed elites, the U.S. is now lower than Russia and South Africa. That’s shocking company.”
The annual survey of 33,000 respondents, which was conducted in October and November, asks citizens of the countries concerned to rank their levels of trust in institutions including government, companies, and the media.
On one hand, I suppose it's at least comforting to know that Americans are not quite as brainwashed today as they were during the Bush administration. We're not as brainwashed as Russians appear to be. A majority of Americans seemingly understand that everything Trump touches turns to shit.
On the other side of the world, Chinese confidence in their own institutions is soaring. I presume that's because China is poised to become a global economic leader while Trump plays with himself on the golf course and fumbles his tweeting phone during "executive time" in the White House.