Trump's popularity remains low around the world, while the US sentiment remains mostly positive
Trump's foreign policy receives little support
A new Pew Research Center report revealed that US President Donald Trump receives mostly negative criticism from audiences around the world, as has been the case for his entire term of office. Across the countries where the Pew Research Center survey took place, a median of 64% of respondents said they did not believe Trump will make the right choice when it comes to world politics, while only 29% expressed confidence in American leader.
Anti-Trump sentiment is particularly prevalent in Western European countries: about three out of four people or even more don't trust Trump in Germany, Sweden, France, Spain and the Netherlands. Moreover, Trump receives particularly negative reviews in Mexico, where 89% do not trust him.
In nearly every country where these trends are available, Trump receives worse ratings than his predecessor Barack Obama. As reported by the Center in 2017, international trust in the American president collapsed after Trump's tenure; at the same time, the positive opinion towards the United States also decreased.
However, Trump still finds areas where he is supported. Most people in the Philippines, Israel, Kenya, Nigeria and India believe that the president will make the right choice in world politics.
This is one of the main findings of a Pew Research Center survey that involved 36,923 respondents in 33 countries between May 18 and October 2, 2019. Other key findings from the survey:
Little support for Trump's international policies, with a few exceptions: Overall, there is little support for numerous foreign policies decided by Donald Trump in the 33 countries surveyed in 2019. Considering the median levels of support in these countries , disapproval is stronger against Trump's policies on raising tariffs or customs duties on goods imported from other countries (68%), withdrawing from international agreements on climate change (66%) and building a wall on the border between the United States and Mexico (60%). Most also do not approve of Trump's policies that reduce the number of immigrants allowed to go to the United States (55%).
A median of 52% also does not approve the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal with Iran. In three countries in the Middle East and North Africa, the vast majority do not approve of Trump's decision to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. This includes 93% of Tunisians, 85% of Lebanese and 78% of Turks. However, in Israel itself 74% approve of Trump's decision, while only 22% disagree. Of all of Trump's foreign policies polled, his direct negotiations with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un garnered the most support. However, only a median of 41% among the 33 countries that participated in the survey approve of this action, compared with 36% who do not support it.
A more negative popularity for Trump than that of other world leaders: German Chancellor Angela Merkel receives the most positive judgments among the five leaders tested in the survey: a median of 46% expresses confidence in her as a leader in world politics, while 29 % say they have no faith in the long-standing German leader. By a narrow margin, French President Emmanuel Macron receives more positive opinions (a median of 41% trust him) than negative ones (a median of 36% does not trust him). In Europe, the percentage of the public expressing confidence in the French leader ranges from 73% in Germany to 18% in Hungary. Relatively few people have expressed confidence in Russian President Vladimir Putin or Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Despite this, Trump receives a more negative judgment than the Russian leader or the Chinese leader. Trump is more popular with politically right-wing people; however, even among these participants, trust in Trump reaches or exceeds 50% in only six countries.
The view on the United States is mainly positive, but negative among some key allies: although the overall attitude towards the United States is positive, there are big differences among the 33 countries in the survey, particularly among some of its key allies in the United States. European Union. The United States receives the most positive opinion in Europe in three states of central and eastern Europe: 79% of Poles, 70% of Lithuanians and 60% of Hungarians have a positive opinion of the United States
At the same time, the most negative views on the United States in Europe come from the Netherlands (46% is positive), Sweden (45%) and Germany (39%). Outside the EU, reviews are more positive in Ukraine (73% is positive) than in Russia (29%). Israelis rate the United States the best among the countries in the survey (83% are positive). 94% of Israeli Jews see the United States positively, while only 37% of Israeli Arabs think so.
