As Donald Trump prepares to take the U.S. presidential oath on Jan. 20, over half of Americans are skeptical about his ability to handle an international crisis, to use military force wisely or to prevent major scandals in his administration, according to a new poll released on Monday.

In comparison, at least seven in 10 Americans were confident in Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton in these areas before they took office, says a Gallup poll.

Forty-six percent of poll respondents are confident Trump can handle an international crisis, 47 percent believe he will use military force wisely, while 44 percent think he can prevent major scandals in his administration, the poll shows.

However, Americans express somewhat more confidence in Trump to work effectively with Congress (60 percent), to handle the economy effectively (59 percent), to defend U.S. interests abroad as president (55 percent), and to manage the executive branch effectively (53 percent), said Jeffrey M. Jones, a poll analyst with the Gallup.

But even in these areas, Americans are far less confident in Trump than they were in his predecessors, when comparisons are available, Jones said.

The results for Trump are based on a Dec. 7-11 Gallup poll conducted via telephone interviews, with a random sample of 1,028 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.

The poll results are consistent with prior Gallup polling showing Trump having a much lower favourable rating than prior presidents-elect and a much lower approval rating for how he has handled his presidential transition.

The poll's margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level. All reported margins of sampling error include computed design effects for weighting. Enditem