Half of US military personnel disapprove of Donald Trump as commander in chief — a poll of the armed forces has suggested amid opposition to the president’s sudden withdrawal from Syria and his approach to building a wall on the Mexican border.

The president has repeatedly touted his support for the troops – telling services members in June “I can tell you, there's nobody that respects the military more than your President, Donald Trump”.

However, it appears the feeling is not necessarily mutual. A poll of 1,630 active duty troops conducted by US forces publication Military Times in conjunction with Syracuse University found 49.9 per cent of respondents had an unfavourable view of the president — with 45.1 per cent expressing their view as very unfavourable.

Meanwhile, just 41.5 per cent of military personnel said they had a favourable opinion of Mr Trump, falling just lower than his rating among the general public according to a poll off polls from FiveThirtyEight.

When asked about specific military policies, 58 per cent said they disapproved of the president’s decision to withdraw troops from Syria — a move that created a power vacuum that was quickly exploited by Russia and Turkey, with the latter going on to attack America’s Kurdish allies in the north of the country.

Trump makes surprise Thanksgiving visit to US troops in Afghanistan Show all 10 1 /10 Trump makes surprise Thanksgiving visit to US troops in Afghanistan Trump makes surprise Thanksgiving visit to US troops in Afghanistan Donald Trump laughs with US troops after serving them Thanksgiving dinner at Bagram airbase during a surprise visit to Afghanistan AFP via Getty Images Trump makes surprise Thanksgiving visit to US troops in Afghanistan It was the president's first visit to Afghanistan AFP via Getty Images Trump makes surprise Thanksgiving visit to US troops in Afghanistan As is traditional with senior politicians, he was happy to help serve the troops – his vice-president Mike Pence did the same for US forces in Iraq a few days earlier AFP via Getty Images Trump makes surprise Thanksgiving visit to US troops in Afghanistan Mr Trump gets stuck in. He told troops he had only been able to have a mouthful of mashed potatoes – and no turkey – before being dragged off to address them AFP via Getty Images Trump makes surprise Thanksgiving visit to US troops in Afghanistan The president applauds as his Afghan counterpart Ashraf Ghani addresses troops AFP via Getty Images Trump makes surprise Thanksgiving visit to US troops in Afghanistan Mr Trump said that he was willing to restart talks with the Taliban REUTERS Trump makes surprise Thanksgiving visit to US troops in Afghanistan He told US troops: "The Taliban wants to make a deal. And we are meeting with them and we say it has to be a ceasefire and they didn't want to do a ceasefire and now they want to do a ceasefire, I believe. It will probably work out that way." AFP via Getty Images Trump makes surprise Thanksgiving visit to US troops in Afghanistan Mr Trump was accompanied on his trip by his national security adviser, Robert O'Brien. While it was his first trip to Afghanistan since becoming president in January 2017, he has been to a warzone once before when he visited troops in Iraq AFP via Getty Images Trump makes surprise Thanksgiving visit to US troops in Afghanistan The president told troops that he had flown 8,331 miles to be there to tell them the US has never been stronger. He said: "There is nowhere I'd rather celebrate Thanksgiving." AFP via Getty Images Trump makes surprise Thanksgiving visit to US troops in Afghanistan Mr Ghani and Mr Trump holding talks at Bagram airbase. Tens of thousands of Afghan civilians and more than 2,400 American service members have been killed since America's longest war began 18 years ago AP

And 59 per cent said they disapproved of Mr Trump’s decision to pay for his Mexican border wall with military construction funds — a work around deployed by the White House after congress refused to rubber stamp funding for the project, which is predicted to cost anywhere from $20bn to $50bn ​(£15.2bn to £38bn).

The poll marks a sharp decline in the president’s popularity among military personnel compared to previous years – in 2018 the same survey found 59 per cent were happy with Mr Trump, while 20 per cent disapproved.

It has also highlighted the gap in opinions between white and non-white servicemen, with some 46 per cent of white troops expressing a favourable view of the president, compared to the nearly two-thirds of non-white respondents who had a negative opinion of him.

Of the female service members polled, 56 per cent said they disapproved of Mr Trump.

It is also the first poll of the military since his decision to fire former secretary for defence James Mattis, who himself enjoys an approval rating of 86 per cent among the forces despite having been out of the job since January.

Mr Trump’s elected replacement, Mark Esper, carries a 24 per cent approval – with 56 per cent of respondents having no opinion either way.

The president might take some solace from the fact his overall approval rating stands higher than that of his predecessor Barack Obama — who finished his second term with unfavourables of 51.5 per cent after advocating for the downsizing of the armed forces.