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Global image of the US has plummeted under Donald Trump - but not in Russia

Mr Trump along with Angela Merkel and Justin Trudeau at the G7. Mr Trump has seen some of his steepest favourability ratings drops in his neighbours and the US's European allies  - Reuters
Mr Trump along with Angela Merkel and Justin Trudeau at the G7. Mr Trump has seen some of his steepest favourability ratings drops in his neighbours and the US's European allies - Reuters

The image of the United States has deteriorated sharply across the globe under President Donald Trump  and an overwhelming majority of people in other countries have no confidence in his ability to lead, a survey from the Pew Research Centre showed.

Five months into Mr Trump's presidency, the survey spanning 37 nations showed US favourability ratings in the rest of the world slumping to 49 per cent from 64 per cent at the end of Barack Obama's eight years in the White House.

Low global confidence in Trump leads to lower ratings for U.S.
Low global confidence in Trump leads to lower ratings for U.S.

In the UK, favourable views of the US have gone down from 61 per cent at the end of the Obama presidency to 50 per cent at the beginning of the Trump administration.

Though a handful of countries saw their views of the US increase slightly, there was only one where it had gone up in double digits: Russia, where favourability ratings increase from 15 to 41 per cent. 

Trump's ratings in Western Europe similar to those for Bush in 2008
Trump's ratings in Western Europe similar to those for Bush in 2008

But the falls were far steeper in some of America's closest allies, including US neighbours Mexico and Canada, and European partners like Germany and Spain.

G7 - Credit: Reuters
Donald Trump, Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrive for a family photo at the G7 Summit in Italy in May Credit: Reuters

Mr Trump took office in January pledging to put "America First". Since then he has pressed ahead with plans to build a wall along the US border with Mexico, announced he will pull out of the Paris climate accord, and accused countries including Canada, Germany and China of unfair trade practices.

On his first foreign trip as president in early June, Mr Trump received warm welcomes in Saudi Arabia and Israel, but a cool reception from European partners, with whom he clashed over Nato spending, climate and trade.

Just 30 per cent of Mexicans now say they have a favourable view of the United States, down from 66 per cent at the end of the Obama era. In Canada and Germany, favourability ratings slid by 22 points, to 43 per cent and 35 per cent, respectively.

Mr Trump has been at loggerheads with Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Emmanuel Macron over trade and the Paris climate accord  - Credit: Reuters
Mr Trump has been at loggerheads with Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Emmanuel Macron over trade and the Paris climate accord Credit: Reuters

In many European countries, the ratings were comparable to those seen at the end of the presidency of George W. Bush, whose 2003 invasion of Iraq was deeply unpopular.

"The drop in favourability ratings for the United States is widespread," the Pew report said. "The share of the public with a positive view of the US has plummeted in a diverse set of countries from Latin America, North America, Europe, Asia and Africa".

Amid federal and congressional investigations into possible election-year coordination between Mr Trump and Russian government officials, Russia is one of two countries to give Mr Trump higher marks than it did Obama. Israel also scored Mr Trump higher than Obama. Obama fell out of favor with Israel after negotiating the nuclear deal with Iran, an enemy of the Jewish state.

Obama received much higher ratings at the end of his presidency than Trump gets today
Obama received much higher ratings at the end of his presidency than Trump gets today

The survey, based on the responses of 40,447 people and conducted between Feb. 16 and May 8 this year, showed even deeper mistrust of Mr Trump himself, with only 22 per cent of those surveyed saying they had confidence he would do the right thing in world affairs, compared to 64 per cent who trusted Obama.

Both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, with confidence ratings of 27 per cent and 28 per cent respectively, scored higher than Mr Trump. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, with a confidence rating of 42 per cent, scored highest among the four leaders in the survey.

Merkel gets higher ratings globally than Xi, Putin or Trump
Merkel gets higher ratings globally than Xi, Putin or Trump

The countries with the lowest confidence in Mr Trump were Mexico, at 5 per cent and Spain at 7 per cent. The only two countries where ratings improved compared to Obama were Russia, where confidence in the US president surged to 53 per cent from 11 per cent, and Israel, where it rose 7 points to 56 per cent.

Mr Trump and the leaders of Canada, Germany, Italy, France and Japan at the G7  - Credit: Reuters
Mr Trump and the leaders of Canada, Germany, Italy, France and Japan at the G7 Credit: Reuters

Globally, 75 per cent of respondents described Mr Trump as "arrogant", 65 per cent as "intolerant" and 62 per cent as "dangerous". A majority of 55 per cent also described him as a "strong leader".

The survey showed widespread disapproval of Mr Trump's signature policy proposals, with 76 per cent unhappy with his plan to build the wall on the border with Mexico, 72 per cent against his withdrawal from major trade agreements and 62 per cent opposed to his plans to restrict travel to the US from some majority-Muslim countries.

Widespread disapproval of Trump's signature policy proposals
Widespread disapproval of Trump's signature policy proposals

On the positive side, the survey showed that 58 per cent of respondents had a positive view of Americans in general. And in many regions of the world, a majority or plurality of respondents said they expected relations with the United States to stay roughly the same in spite of Mr Trump.