He’s popular in Israel, less so everywhere else.
A new Pew global survey released Tuesday finds just a quarter of those polled in 25 countries around the world have confidence in President Trump’s leadership, below Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, and way below European leaders such as France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Angela Merkel.
Attitudes toward America, overall, are shown to be declining sharply, with the U.S. still seen favorably by 50 percent of people in all the nations polled, but unfavorably by 43 percent, a historic low.
“[The 15-year-old poll] has been a really interesting story,” said Pew Director of Global Attitudes Research Richard Wike on Tuesday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank. “We’ve had some highs and we’ve some lows in the past decade and a half. Truthfully in this survey, it is mostly lows.”
Mr. Trump’s assertive “America first” foreign policy has thrilled his political supporters two years into his presidency. But his taste for blunt public confrontation, especially with traditional U.S. allies and international bodies such as NATO and the U.N., has taken a serious toll on America’s image as a world leader, according to the new survey of attitudes of some 26,000 respondents in 26 countries.
Pew’s 2017 poll found that positive global opinion of the U.S. had “dropped precipitously” after Mr. Trump’s election. Former President Barack Obama scored much higher with overseas audiences. CSIS European Director Heather Conley said world opinion appeared to be reflecting “confusion” about America’s future role.
“Frustrations with the U.S. in the Trump era are particularly common among some of America’s closest allies and partners,” Mr. Wike said, adding that many nations don’t feel the U.S. considers their interests when making foreign policy decisions — a message Mr. Trump frequently voices.
Many poll respondents also say they don’t see the U.S. doing as much to address the world’s problems as in the past. Pew noted that the lack of trust in American leadership across Europe is particularly striking.
Three out of four Germans say the U.S. is doing less now to address global issues, while in France, 81 percent think the U.S. doesn’t consider its interests when in foreign policy matters. Just 10 percent of Germans say they have confidence in Mr. Trump, while only 9 percent of the French say do.
There were bright spots, with the Philippines and South Korea showing overwhelmingly positive attitudes toward America.
In Israel, Mr. Trump’s positive rating jumped to 69 percent from 56 percent in 2017 — reflecting, in part, his decision to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
But America’s closest neighbors, Canada and Mexico, also had critical views. Only 25 percent of Canadians rate Mr. Trump positively, while in Mexico only 6 percent of those surveyed expressed confidence in his leadership.
That low level of support, however, did not stop Mr. Trump from being able to secure a renegotiated NAFTA free-trade deal with both countries that was nailed down just days ago.
Around the world the option of the strength of American power was divided, with 31 percent saying the U.S. plays a more important role in the world today than it did 10 years ago; 25 percent saying it plays a less important role; and 35 percent believing the U.S. is as important as it was a decade ago.
In contrast, Pew said views about Chinese power are clear: 70 percent in the Pew international survey say Beijing’s role on the world stage has grown over the past 10 years.
However, people in nearly every country tended to select the U.S. when asked which nation would be better for the world as the top global power.
The Pew survey ran from May 20 to Aug. 12.
• Dan Boylan can be reached at dboylan@washingtontimes.com.
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