US image takes a blow in many nations — study

The United States is seeing a marked drop in popularity in many countries during the second term of President Donald Trump, according to a study by the nonpartisan Pew Research Centre released on Wednesday.

The survey, carried out in 24 countries, showed overall ratings of the US falling in 15 countries since last spring, with Mexico, Sweden, Poland and Canada displaying the biggest increase in negative views.

Respondents were asked about overall views on the US and the state of its democracy as well as about their opinion of Trump, both with regard to his personal traits and his ability to handle major global issues.

Most of the interviews were conducted after the notorious meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on February 28 and before Trump announced tariffs on countries around the world on April 2.

Widespread decline in US image

Mexico and Sweden were the two countries where the opinion of the US suffered most, with drops of 32 percentage points in positive ratings (from 61% to 29%) in the first and 28 percentage points (47% to 19%) in the second in comparison with 2024.

US popularity among adults in Poland and Canada fell by more than 20 percentage points over the year in both countries.

The fall in US popularity in Germany was also marked: from 49% to 33% (16 percentage points).

Opinions about the US in the UK, Greece, Hungary, South Africa, Argentina and India showed little change.

People in three countries — Israel, Nigeria and Turkey — became slightly more likely to give the US good marks.

Israelis are US fans, Swedes are not

Israel was the country with the highest percentage (83%) of people with a positive assessment of the US.

Sweden had the most people who view the US unfavourably (79%).

Despite the increase in popularity in Turkey, the country still has one of the most unfavourable opinions of the US, with just 25% of adults having a positive view of the country.

In Germany, 66% had a negative view of the US.

Generational, ideological divides

Younger people (35 and below) in most countries surveyed had a more positive view of the US than those aged 50 and above.

This was particularly noticeable in Brazil, with 73% of younger adults giving a positive assessment compared with 37% of older adults who have an unfavourable view.

Political ideologies also played a large role in peoples' opinions.

Among the 51% of people in Israel who say they are ideologically rightist, 97% had a favourable view of the US.

Australia also displayed a wide gap between those on the right, of whom 60% viewed the US positively, and those on the left, where the number dwindled to 12%.

In Germany, supporters of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party were far more likely to have positive opinions of the US (63%) than those who do not back the party (25%).

Trump a major factor

The US president received mostly negative ratings in the survey, with more than half of adults in 19 of the countries saying they had little or no confidence in Trump's ability to lead world affairs.

This is despite the fact that majorities in 18 countries viewed him as a "strong leader."

The survey showed that a median of 34% of adults have a lot or some confidence in Trump's ability to give good leadership in world affairs, while 62%) have little or no confidence in him.

His highest ratings came from Nigeria (79% confidence), Israel (69%), Kenya (64%), Hungary (53%) and India (52%).

Adults in Mexico had the least confidence (8%), followed by Sweden (15%), Turkey (16%), Germany (18%) and Spain (19%).

Low marks for Trump on climate change

In 17 countries, men have more confidence in Trump than women, with this difference most marked in Sweden, Poland, and the UK. In Germany, the gender gap was 11 percentage points.

Those on the right of the political spectrum also see him more positively.

In all, 13 nations gave lower ratings for Trump than they did for his predecessor, Joe Biden, in 2024, but they are higher in six countries.

Trump received his lowest marks on climate change policy, with a median of just 21% of people of the opinion that he can handle the challenges posed by global warming.

Just 33% thought he could resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and 29% the "conflicts between Israel and its neighbours."