US sees global popularity plummet under Trump administration

27 Jun, 2017 12:10 / Updated 8 years ago

Donald Trump’s popularity as POTUS has been in question since he took office and it appears he’s taken his country’s reputation down with him, according to a new global survey.

The Pew Research Center surveyed 40,000 participants from 37 countries about their opinions of both the US president and their overall favorability towards the US.

Approval of the current US president deteriorated in all countries surveyed, with the exception of Russia and Israel.

The second question, exploring views on the US as a country, received negative responses in all countries except Russia and Vietnam.

Mexico witnessed a massive decline in their approval rating of the US president, down to just 5 percent from 49 percent for Obama in 2015. Northern neighbors Canada also saw a decline from 83 percent approval in 2016 to just 22 percent at the time of the survey.

In Western Europe, Trump’s popularity plummeted to numbers not seen since the George W. Bush era. Favorability of the US has remained relatively stable, however, with only France and Germany experiencing major declines since the end of Barack Obama’s administration.

Opinion of the US dropped from a median of 64 percent to 49 percent during Obama’s final years. Germany, Spain and the Netherlands had the least favorable views of the US in Europe, with 62, 60 and 59 percent approval respectively.

Israel stands alone in the Middle-East as having a positive view of the US with 81 percent of those surveyed responding favorably. In sharp contrast, Turkey and Tunisia have an unfavorable opinion, with 79 percent and 82 respectively holding a negative perception of the US.

Some 56 percent of Israelis expressed confidence in Trump, up from 49 percent for Obama in 2015. The country expressed their highest confidence in the US president in 2003 under George W. Bush, with 83 percent in favor.

In Russia, Trump has a 52 percent approval rating, up from 11 percent for Obama.

Globally, a median of 22 percent of respondents have confidence in Trump, as opposed to Obama’s 64 percent.