New Delhi: Confidence in US President Donald Trump’s leadership of global affairs remains low among key US allies, particularly among G7 nations, according to a new survey released by the Pew Research Centre.
The study, conducted between January and April and released on 11 June, found that just 34 percent of people across 24 countries believed that Trump was doing a good job leading the world on major global issues such as the Russia-Ukraine War, US-China relations and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The 24 nations included G7 countries Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the UK.
“Americans see G7 countries positively, but people in those countries have less favourable views of the US,” Pew said.
According to the study—based on face-to-face, telephone and online interviews with 28,333 adults—the majority consider Trump both “arrogant” and “dangerous”, while some still believe he is a “strong leader”.
Trump’s ratings were lowest on climate change. Only 21 percent said they had confidence in Trump’s handling of climate change, with less than 20 percent in Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Spain saying they had any confidence in his climate leadership.
France reported the lowest figure at 13 percent, while Germany was a bit higher at 16 percent, Canada 18 percent, Italy 19 percent, the UK 20 percent and Japan 23 percent..
Trump also faced widespread criticism over his handling of the war in Ukraine with 65 percent saying they had little or no trust in his approach to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
President Trump is facing a serious crisis of confidence among G7 allies on the Ukraine issue. The feeling is especially strong in Western Europe with a majority in the G7 countries expressing “no confidence at all” in his strategy.
Among them, Italy shows the highest confidence at 39 percent, but it drops to 34 percent for the UK, 29 percent for France, 26 percent for Germany and Canada, and 32 percent for Japan.
Trump’s economic leadership is another area of concern. Just 32 percent of those polled in 24 countries expressed confidence in his economic management, with 67 percent saying they were not.
Canadians saw his ‘on-again, off-again’ tariff action as a key factor in the economic turmoil the world is experiencing. The survey showed that G7 partners believed that Trump’s unilateral trade actions are a source of instability.
The Pew Survey also showed that 62 percent had little or no confidence in how Trump is handling US-China relations. The UK recorded the highest G7 confidence with 39 percent, followed by Italy at 36 percent, Canada at 31 percent, Japan at 30 percent, Germany at 29 percent and France at 27 percent.
On the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, 68 percent across 24 countries had little to no confidence in how Trump is handling the situation.
The survey shows that the UK and Italy both registered 30 percent confidence, while Canada and Japan were both at 23 percent.
The mood of skepticism extends to many European nations, including France, Germany and Sweden”, where a majority expressed “no confidence at all”.
The report also shows widespread criticism of Trump’s immigration policies. It found that 61 percent across 24 countries had little or no confidence in how he’s handling immigration, with only 36 percent saying they were confident.
In Canada, seen as one of the most important G7 nations outside the US, 33 percent had confidence while the UK had the highest G7 confidence at 47 percent. This dropped to 37 percent for Italy, 36 percent for Japan, 32 percent for France and 27 percent for Germany.
Pew also noted a striking gender gap in approval levels, with men more likely to have confidence in Trump. In Canada, 27 percent of men expressed confidence in Trump compared to just 16 percent of women.
Trump’s ratings lagged behind former US President Joe Biden in 13 countries and surpassed Biden in only five. France, Germany, Spain and the UK, in particular, had higher confidence in Biden.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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