Politics / North Korea 67% of US Opposes Preemptive Strike on North Korea: Poll And only 37% trusts Trump to handle the situation 'responsibly' By Michael Harthorne, Newser Staff Posted Sep 24, 2017 1:29 PM CDT Copied President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in support of Sen. Luther Strange Friday in Huntsville, Ala. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File) The majority of Americans oppose a preemptive military strike against North Korea and trust the US military—as opposed to President Trump—to handle current situation "responsibly," the Washington Post reports. The new numbers come from a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll. Here are some of the results: 72% of Americans trust the US military to handle the North Korea situation responsibly. Only 37% feel the same way about Trump. That's still more than the 8% who trust Kim Jong Un to act responsibly. 67% of Americans oppose a preemptive military strike against North Korea. And 69% believe such a military strike would drastically increase the risk of a larger war in East Asia. 32% of Americans support offering North Korea aid money or other financial incentives in exchange for the country giving up its nuclear weapons. 76% support tougher economic sanctions to achieve the same result. Only 39% of Americans support bombing North Korean military targets to convince the country to abandon its nuclear weapons. Overall, Trump's approval rating sits at 39% with 57% of Americans disapproving of his performance. (More North Korea stories.) Report an error