International ratings for Trump remain poor

Since Donald Trump took office as president in 2016, the image of the United States has suffered across many regions of the globe. As a new 13-nation Pew Research Center survey illustrates, America's reputation has declined further over the past year among many key allies and partners.

Now, ahead of the US Election 2020, let's take a look at Trump's ratings on the global scale.

For instance, just 41 percent in the United Kingdom express a favorable opinion of the US, the lowest percentage registered in any Pew Research Center survey there. In France, only 31 percent see the US positively, matching the grim ratings from March 2003, at the height of US-France tensions over the Iraq War. Germans give the US particularly low marks on the survey: 26 percent rate the US favorably, similar to the 25 percent in the same March 2003 poll.

Part of the decline over the past year is linked to how the US is handling the coronavirus pandemic. Across the 13 nations surveyed, a median of just 15 percent say the US has done a good job of dealing with the outbreak.

Trump's most negative assessment is in Belgium, where only 9 percent say they have confidence in the US president to do the right thing in world affairs. His highest rating is in Japan; still, just one-quarter of Japanese express confidence in Trump.

The people surveyed also see Trump more negatively than other world leaders. Among the six leaders included on the survey, Angela Merkel receives the highest marks: A median of 76 percent across the nations polled have confidence in the German chancellor. French President Emmanuel Macron also gets largely favorable reviews. Ratings for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson are roughly split. Ratings for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping are overwhelmingly negative, although not as negative as those for Trump.

Among the world leaders, Merkel is the most trusted one and she has held that position since 2017. At least half have faith in the German leader when it comes to coping with foreign relations in every country surveyed. Just under 90 percent in the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark express faith in Merkel, slightly higher than the 81 percent of Germans who trust their leader to do the right thing.

In the survey, Germans gave the US some of their worst scores. Just 26 percent have a favorable opinion of America, while only 10 percent trust Trump when it comes to his handling of world affairs. These views are in stark contrast with the very positive evaluations that Germans had during the presidency of Barack Obama, but approximately on par with the views at the end of the term of George W Bush.

Support for right-wing populist parties is connected to US scores in the European countries surveyed. In Germany, individuals who have a favorable view of the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) are far more likely to have a positive opinion of the US (43 percent among party members vs 22 percent) or to trust Trump's approach to foreign relations (34 percent vs 5 percent) than those with an unfavorable view of the party. In addition to the coronavirus outbreak, they are also more likely to say that the US has done a decent job (25 percent vs 6 percent).