Never Trumpers? Not Quite: What the World Thinks About America and Trump

 In 2016, the liberal left governments of the world were stunned as Hillary Clinton, the Democratic heir apparent to Barack Obama, was forced to conceded her candidacy for president. How was this possible, that a brash businessman and political outsider had denied Hillary her long awaited “coronation”  that the Left believed was all but inevitable?

For the next four years, Donald Trump proceed to dismantle the Status Quo. Nothing and no one was safe. Even the “Deep State’s” hold on government was threatened. Few of Americas allies and trading partners felt safe. Even military alliances felt threatened as Trump began demanding that allies start picking up more of the costs for their own defense.

Up to then, the burden fell largely on the United States while they redirected money to their economies. Then came the 2020 election, and the Status Quo was back in power, and their nightmare was over.  It was time to restore order. But that wasn’t all that happened, the 2020 election displayed for the world to see just how deeply divided Americans were.

To make matters worse, it showed the extent the Status Quo was willing to go to retain its power by propping up a man in obvious mental decline and expecting everyone to play along. This was “The emperor has no clothes” writ large for all the world to see. Confidence in American was now in a freefall.

 President Biden’s approval rating  averaged just 42%. His Vice President, Kamala Harris, was polled as the worse VP in U.S. history (and then the Democratic Party had audacity to put her up as their presidential nominee!). By the time Biden and Harris left office, America’s allies and trading partners had serious concerns. It seemed that nearly everyone was talking about America’s power in the past tense.

We left Afghanistan, after 20 years of war, worse off than when we arrived. Iraq wasn’t doing so great either, and our regional “arch-nemesis”, Iran and all its “baby vipers” like Hamas, Al Qaeda, ISIS, and Hezbollah, were feeling more emboldened than ever. China was now viewed as the new world economic superpower, and it wasn’t being shy backing it up. Not since WWII has nations in the Pacific felt so endangered.

We found ourselves butt deep in the shenanigans that triggered the war between Ukraine and Russia and even threatened the integrity of NATO over promises and deals which should never had been made.  Illegal immigration was out of control and our politicians lacked the will to stop it. But, as the expression goes, “history doesn’t often repeat, but it does rhyme”.

On November 7, 2024, Donald Trump accomplished what few---here at home or overseas--- thought was possible. He defeated the “swamp”, despite years of attempts to financially break him, attacking him and his supporters criminally, and constant political propaganda by the “impartial” mainstream media (cue sinical laughter). They even literally tried to assassinate him.  In Europe as well as Asia, Latin America, and Africa, friend and foe alike did their best to villainize  or humiliate him or anyone who openly supported “The Donald”.

It’s been written by biblical scholars that God would often consigned his chosen prophets to the desert wilderness, to be scourged by the blistering hot winds and sand, the blazing sun, the barren landscape, and constant thirst in order to prepare them for their chosen task ahead.

While no one (especially me) is claiming that Trump has been chosen by any other deity for anything, there’s no question that he has been purged of any doubts or illusions about who he is up against or what it will take to defeat an oligarchy which has destroyed the Republic and substituted in its place, a neo-fascist corporatocracy.  Perhaps more importantly, it has shown who has Trump’s back, both individually and globally.  So, where does the world stand?

Let’s start with Europe, which has traditionally been the focus of our interests for over 200 years. We were settled by Europeans and our country was founded on the ideals of the European Enlightenment and on the model of ancient Rome and Greece.  

Twice now we’ve bailed Europe out of two devastating world wars. We left some of our bravest behind, buried in European soil. Through the Marshall Plan, we invested billions to help raise the continent up from the ashes in which it found itself. We were also instrumental in saving western Europe from the clutches of communist tyranny. We’ve been there ever since, forging close partnerships politically, economically, and militarily.

According to a Visual Capitalist survey from January 2025,  40% Europeans generally are undecided about Trump’s second bite at the presidential apple (a Pew poll shows a 31% approval rating for Trump). While 38% see Trump’s presidency as a potential disaster of global proportions and 22% believe that it may herald in a new American “golden age” which could affect the world. Compare those numbers with that of President Obama where 53% had a positive opinion about him.

The UK is among those with a low opinion of Trump. Despite being our closest ally, 54% disapprove President Trump. 31% are on the fence and just 15% support Trump. As an aside, approval for Trump in Canada is a chilly 28% while the Aussie’s 35% positive rating.

In Germany, Trump’s confidence level is just 13% with 85% having low or no confidence in him. In Sweden it’s 81% no confidence. France and Spain both give Trump a thumb’s down with a negative 78% each. The Dutch and Greeks have only 25% approval rating for Trump. Among the Swiss, 44% are undecided while 23% like Trump, but 34% don’t.

The only place in Europe where Trump actually received positive numbers was in Poland with a 51% confidence level and Ukraine (which is heavily dependent on the U.S. for aid) which gave Trump an approval rating of 44%.  Still, 37% of Ukrainians had no confidence in Trump. As for Russia, 67% had a negative opinion about Trump with only 20% having a positive view of him.

Turning to Asia, only India and the Philippines had a positive impression on “The Donald”. In India it was 56% while in the Philippines that number was 77%. In South Korea, which is heavily dependent on U.S. military support, Trump’s confidence level was 46% with 52% have a negative opinion. In Japan, another country which depends heavily on the U.S., just 36% are confident in Trump and 61% aren’t. Lastly, in Indonesia, polling shows a 30% positive confidence level for Trump and a 40% negative.

In looking at Africa and the Middle East, our main ally, Israel has 71% approval rating of Trump. Israel’s neighbor, Lebanon, things were different. 67% voiced no confidence in Trump.  Nigeria, and Kenya do as well with a  58% and 65% positive approval respectively, whereas Turkey, a key NATO and EU ally, has an 84% negative level of confidence in President Trump. In Tunisia, just 12% said they had trust in Trump (75% didn’t).

In looking at three of the largest economies in Latin America, 89% of Mexicans reported no confidence in Trump (much of that, no doubt, coming from his crackdown on illegal immigration). Only 8% said they could trust Trump. In Brazil, President Trump’s positive confidence level was only 28%. 60% said “no”. Meanwhile, in Argentina, it was worse. 69% turned down Trump. 28% said “si”. It bears mentioning, that of the last five U.S. Presidents, Obama has had the highest global approval rating. First term Trump was the lowest.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that those on the political Right had the highest levels of confidence in President Trump. In Israel it was 86%. 55% in Australia and 50% in Italy. In Hungary, Trump polled a 57% positive rating. It was 58% among conservatives in South Korea. Among the Poles, it was a plus 61% for Trump.

Interestingly, however, among the Dutch and Spanish Rightwing parties, Trump’s numbers weren’t that high. Just 35% of conservative Dutch approved of Trump while 31% of the Spanish conservatives did. Conservative Germans had only a 21% positive opinion of him while it was just 21% among conservative Argentinians.

Looking at another poll, this one done by the European Council on Foreign Affairs, the question was posed as to whether Trump was a good thing for the American People, 69% of those surveyed in Saudi Arabia said “yes”. So did 50% in China, 59% in Russia, and 85% in India. Ukraine and Indonesia weren’t so sure. Just 37% of Ukrainians said “yes: as did 38% of those in Indonesia.

Interestingly, when it came to Europe in general, only 34% of those polled thought that President Trump would be a good thing for Americans in general. England polled the lowest with only 24%.

The same poll also showed that 75% of Indians felt that Trump’s reelection was going to be good for the world in general. However, from there the numbers quickly drop. Just 49% of those surveyed in Saudi Arabia agreed as did only 35% of Russians. In China it was 34% and 29% in Turkey.

Once again, Europeans displayed their low opinion of “The Donald”. 22% saw Trump’s second term as positive for the world. 15% of the English agreed with 50% a hard “no”. However, a paltry 13% of South Koreans were looking forward to Trump 2.0. It bears mentioning that 48% weren’t sure. 15% were sure…that Trump needs to go.

In a related poll, this one from June 2024 by Pew, respondents in 34 countries were asked their overall opinion of the United States. In general, 54% had a positive view of U.S. while 31% held a negative opinion. In looking at those with the highest opinions of the U.S., Poland had the highest with 86%. Ghana and Kenya were tied with 78%. They were closely followed with Israel, South Korea, and Thailand with 77% each.

In looking at the countries with the highest negative opinion of America, we have Tunisia with 87%. Our NATO partner, Turkey, was second with a 77% negative view of the U.S. Malaysia had a 65% negative opinion of the U.S. followed by Australia at 60% and Singapore showing a 50% negative opinion of the United States.  As an aside, just one in five Europeans regard America as an ally.

There’s no question that Donald Trump is a polarizing figure. Most people, whether here in the U.S. or abroad, either like him or hate him. There are very few in the middle or with no opinion. With America’s influence waning, confidence in the American Presidency could have a serious impact on global relations no matter how much saber rattling there is. In the high stakes game of global politics, the only thing worse than being disliked is being ignored like Trump's predecessor was. 

Trump has proven to be an excellent business negotiator despite (or because of) his bravado and unpredictability. That’s good for America. But in our highly integrated world, success has to be viewed from a position of a mutual win for all concerned. Furthermore, we have to accept that we are no longer the “big dog” on the block. Might alone doesn't make right. We sometimes have to allow others their time in the sun. Is Trump capable of that? I don’t know. Only time will tell.

 

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