82 percent of Americans view Russia as a 'threat'

President-elect Donald Trump may think being well-liked by Russian President Vladimir Putin is "an asset, not a liability," but the majority of Americans are very leery about Russia. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released Friday revealed that 82 percent of Americans think Russia is a "threat" to the U.S. In fact, Americans were "more likely to label Russia a threat than they were Iran, Syria, China, Saudi Arabia, Cuba, or Yemen," Reuters reported. The only country Americans were more concerned about was North Korea, which 86 percent of Americans called a threat.

Anxieties about Russia extended beyond party lines. While Democrats were slightly more concerned, with 84 percent labeling Russia a "threat," 82 percent of Republicans raised concerns about the country. On the whole, it's a noticeable jump from when the question was last asked in March 2015, and 76 percent of Americans called Russia a threat.

Trump has largely brushed off concerns about Russia, refusing to embrace the U.S. intelligence community's reports blaming Russia for cyber attacks ahead of the U.S. presidential election and speaking favorably of Putin.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The poll was conducted online Jan. 9-12 among 1,169 Americans across all 50 states. Its overall margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.