Updates to our Terms of Use

We are updating our Terms of Use. Please carefully review the updated Terms before proceeding to our website.

Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

America’s Image Suffers Under Trump Presidency, Poll Shows

America’s image abroad has suffered as people around the world question President Donald Trump’s leadership and many of his key policies, according to a new Pew Research Center report based on surveys of thousands of people in dozens of foreign countries.

(CN) - America’s image abroad has suffered as people around the world question President Donald Trump’s leadership and many of his key policies, according to a new Pew Research Center report based on surveys of thousands of people in dozens of foreign countries.

The favorability of the U.S. – and trust in its president to do the right thing when it comes to international affairs – has dropped significantly since Trump took office in January, according to the report, which surveyed more than 40,000 people in 37 countries outside of the U.S. between February and May.

At the end of Barack Obama’s presidency, 64 percent of people abroad had a positive view of the U.S., but today, just 49 percent have a favorable view of the country, according to the 109-page report released Monday.

This drop corresponds to a decline in the confidence of the U.S. president since Trump was inaugurated. Only 22 percent of those surveyed have confidence in Trump to do the right thing when it comes to international affairs. In contrast, 64 percent of people around the world expressed confidence in Obama’s ability to direct America’s role in the world when he was president.

America’s image has suffered the most among some of its closest allies in Europe and Asia, as well as Mexico and Canada, the study shows.

Only 22 percent of those surveyed in the U.K. have confidence in the U.S. president today, compared to 79 percent who had confidence in Obama. In Mexico, only 5 percent trust the president today, down from 49 percent during Obama’s administration.

Trump’s ratings in Western Europe are similar to those for George W. Bush at the end of his presidency, according to the report.

Trust in the U.S. president has gone up only in two of the countries surveyed: Russia and Israel. Confidence in the president to do the right thing has gone up slightly in Israel, from 49 percent to 56 percent, and skyrocketed in Russia from 11 percent to 53 percent.

The global public doesn’t only distrust Trump, according to the report, but also associates a number of negative characteristics with the leader.

Seventy-five percent of survey respondents said Trump is arrogant, 65 percent said he is intolerant, and 62 percent said Trump could be described as dangerous.

Few respondents (26 percent) said Trump is well-qualified to be president, and even fewer (23 percent) said he cares about ordinary people.

The global public is also unhappy with five major policy proposals that Trump has supported.

Trump’s proposal to build a wall on the border between the U.S. and Mexico is especially unpopular, with 75 percent of respondents expressing disapproval of this policy, and 72 percent of respondents disapproving of Trump’s proposals to withdraw U.S. support for major trade agreements.

The survey, conducted before Trump officially announced that the U.S. would pull out of the Paris climate-change accord, found widespread opposition (71 percent) to the U.S. withdrawing from international climate-change agreements.

Trump’s ban on Muslim travel to the U.S. garnered support from Hungary, Israel, Poland and Russia, but globally, only a third of respondents expressed support for the proposed ban.

Despite electing Trump, the American people are seen more positively than the U.S. as a country. Across the nations polled, 58 percent say they have a favorable impression of Americans, and two-thirds of those surveyed said they like American music, movies and television.

Positive views of the American people and American pop culture are especially common in Asia and Europe, but less common in the Middle East. Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon are the only nations polled where majorities express an unfavorable opinion of Americans.

Overall, a majority or plurality of respondents in many countries believes that relations between their country and the U.S. will remain about the same, even with Trump as president.

Categories / Government, International, Politics

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Loading...