---
title: "Indonesians upbeat about Obama and the U.S., despite the president’s cancelled trips"
description: "President Obama has cancelled a trip to Indonesia for the third time because of troubles at home."
date: "2013-10-07"
authors:
  - name: "Aaron Ponce"
    job_title: "Former Research Associate"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/aaron-ponce/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2013/10/07/indonesians-upbeat-about-obama-and-the-u-s-despite-the-presidents-cancelled-trips/"
categories:
  - "Barack Obama"
  - "World Leaders"
---

# Indonesians upbeat about Obama and the U.S., despite the president’s cancelled trips

Amid the government shutdown and personnel furloughs, President Obama has cancelled a [planned trip to Asia](http://www.nytimes.com/news/fiscal-crisis/2013/10/03/obama-cancels-two-more-asia-trips/) where he was to attend a Pacific Rim economic conference in Indonesia that begins today, and also hold a series of important diplomatic meetings in the region.

[![DN_Obama_Indonesia](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2013/10/DN_Obama_Indonesia.png)](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2013/10/DN_Obama_Indonesia.png)

This marks the third time in as many years that Obama has scrubbed a trip to Indonesia.

The [first two cancellations](http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/06/obama-postpones-indonesia-aust.html) happened in 2010 when the president decided to stay in Washington, first for a critical health care vote in Congress and later due to a massive oil spill on the Gulf Coast. Now, with the government shutdown entering its second week and a fight looming over the debt ceiling, the president once again has decided to stay in Washington because of the political battles at home—as well as [limited staff](http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/04/us/politics/furloughs-alter-routines-for-presidents-staff.html?_r=1&) both at home and abroad due to the shutdown.

Despite the previous cancellations, America’s image has remained positive in Indonesia. In a [spring 2013 survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2013/07/18/chapter-1-attitudes-toward-the-united-states/), 61% of Indonesians expressed a favorable view of the U.S., essentially unchanged from 63% in a 2009 poll conducted shortly after President Obama took office.

Many Indonesians are aware that President Obama spent some of his childhood in the country. When asked [in 2009](https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2009/07/23/chapter-2-views-of-president-barack-obama/), 79% of Indonesians said they knew the president lived in Indonesia as a child.

Today, Obama is popular in Indonesia—53% have confidence in him to do the right thing in world affairs. However, Obama’s popularity has declined since 2009, when 71% had confidence in the newly elected American president. Still, Indonesians give Obama one of the highest ratings among the majority-Muslim nations surveyed by [Pew Research Center](https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2013/07/18/chapter-2-global-opinion-of-barack-obama/) earlier this year (second to Senegal at 78%).