Trump causes ‘major’ shift in global view of US: Pew

Trump's views on Europe

Image caption

Trump isn’t shy of sharing views on many countries – but what do they think of him?

Donald Trump’s presidency has had a “major impact on how the world sees the United States”, a large new study says.

The survey, by the Pew Research Center, interviewed more than 40,000 people in 37 countries this year.

It concluded that the US president and his policies “are broadly unpopular around the globe”.

The survey shows only two of the 37 countries have a better opinion of Mr Trump than they had of his predecessor Barack Obama: Israel and Russia.

But the report indicates many feel their country’s relationship with the US will not change over the coming years.

The key findings from the survey, carried out between 16 February and 8 May, include:

People have less faith in Trump than Obama

People were surveyed at the end of Barack Obama’s eight-year presidency, and after the start of Mr Trump’s term – they were asked if they had faith that the president would do the right thing for world affairs.

This is how some US allies (and Russia) responded:

Mr Trump wasted little time in making his mark on world affairs – making clear he expected Nato countries to pay their fair share and encouraging Gulf countries to isolate Qatar in recent weeks.

His presidency has shaken up old allies to the extent that German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, after she met Mr Trump, that she felt Europe could no longer “completely depend” on its old ally.

In fact, it is among the traditional US allies that the confidence has dropped the most, according to the survey – while 86% of Germans had faith in Mr Obama, for example, only 11% do so in Mr Trump.

Media caption“We Europeans have to take our destiny in our own hands,” says Mrs Merkel

In his five months in office, the US president has, however, reached out to important friends – visiting Israel, Saudi Arabia and other countries early on.

His focus on the relationship with Israel, for one, has paid off – though his preferred status among Israelis is also reflective of Mr Obama’s unpopularity there.

India, whose prime minister Narendra Modi met Mr Trump on Monday, is one of the countries that looks on the US president most favourably – 40% of respondents had confidence in him compared with 58% for Mr Obama.

Read more: The results at the same point in Obama’s second term

Most countries see Trump in an unfavourable light

Responders were asked if they viewed Mr Trump in seven particular ways. Here is a sample of answers from three random countries from three continents:

“Across all the characteristics tested, positive and negative, President Trump is most likely to be described as arrogant,” the Pew report says.

In 26 of the 37 countries, more than half of respondents consider Mr Trump dangerous.

Having said that, the opinion changes depending on who is answering – those who say they are left-leaning are far more likely to consider him dangerous. In Peru and Brazil, it is those in the centre politically who are more likely to be worried.

Across the board, Mr Trump is seen as a strong leader – Latin American and African countries in particular really believe this. The downside for him is that very few countries believe he is qualified to be president.

The travel ban has harmed the US’s image

The findings were released only hours after the US Supreme Court partially lifted an injunction against President Trump’s ban on visitors from six majority-Muslim countries.

The ban, which had previously been blocked in lower courts, proved unpopular with 62% of respondents across the 37 countries. A majority of people in only three of the countries – Israel, Hungary and Russia – supported the ban.

Media captionMuslim students on Trump ban: ‘I don’t belong here’

In countries with large Muslim populations, the ban is unsurprisingly unpopular – with Jordan (disapproval rating of 96%), Lebanon (88%) and Senegal (82%) especially unhappy with the ban.

Big win for Trump and his travel ban

None of this matters

That’s not us saying it, it is the opinion of many of the 40,447 people interviewed by Pew and their associates.

People may be worried about what Trump means for their country, many may see him as arrogant or dangerous – but that doesn’t mean they think his presidency will have any effect on them.

What has President Trump said about your country?

This is not true of everyone of course, but a median of 41% of people think their country’s relationship with the US will stay the same.

While only 15% think ties will improve, some countries are extremely optimistic, especially in Africa – 54% of Nigerians and 51% Ghanaians think things will get better (as do 53% of Russians, who are generally optimistic about the world with Trump in the White House, according to the survey).

The country with the bleakest outlook for their ties with the US? Mexico, by some distance.

And at home?

The survey focused on international attitudes, but a recent report from Pew found that Mr Trump’s approval ratings in his home country have remained low since he took office in January.

It suggests just 39% of Americans think he is doing a good job – dropping to just 7% among black voters.

However, there is still strong support for Mr Trump among his own party: 81% of those who lean or are Republican say he has been doing well, rising to 88% among those who consider themselves more staunchly conservative.

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Trump causes ‘major’ shift in global view of US: Pew