European views of Trump and the U.S. are especially negative

European public opinion of the United States and President Donald Trump has sharply deteriorated, with majorities across 10 nations expressing a lack of confidence in the president and declining views of American reliability, according to a new Pew Research Center survey conducted in early 2026 [1]. The survey of 42,151 adults across 36 countries, fielded from February 8 to May 13, 2026, found that few Europeans have confidence in Trump to do the right thing in world affairs. In eight of the 10 European nations polled, roughly three-quarters or more of the public said they lack this confidence [1]. Trump’s ratings have fallen significantly in eight European nations since 2025, including drops of 15 percentage points in Greece and Italy [1]. Support for Trump has also eroded among right-wing populist constituencies that previously backed him. Among Italians with a positive view of the Brothers of Italy party, confidence in Trump fell from 49% in 2025 to 30% this year [1]. A median of 85% of Europeans across the surveyed nations disapprove of Trump’s handling of major issues, particularly his approach to Greenland and tariffs. He also received poor reviews on the conflicts in Gaza, the Russia-Ukraine war, and Iran [1]. Overall favorability toward the U.S. has declined over the past year in six of the 10 European nations surveyed. Hungary is the only country where a majority, 58%, now holds a favorable opinion of the U.S., while Sweden recorded the lowest marks at 19% [1]. The perception of American reliability has cratered. Hungary and Poland are the only countries where a majority still considers the U.S. a reliable partner. In eight other nations, the share describing the U.S. as reliable has fallen by between 28 and 52 percentage points [1]. Europeans have also become less likely to believe the U.S. considers other countries’ interests when making foreign policy, with significant declines in nine nations since 2023 [1]. The souring attitudes coincide with a period of aggressive U.S. foreign policy shifts. Trump’s second term, which began on January 20, 2025, has been marked by an interventionist approach including military strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, support for Israel in the June 2025 Twelve-Day War, and strikes on Iranian nuclear sites [2]. The administration has also pursued mass deportations of immigrants and launched the Department of Government Efficiency to reduce federal spending, while signing 225 executive orders in 2025, the most in a single year since Franklin D. Roosevelt [2]. Scholarly and political debate has intensified over the nature of Trump’s governance. Several experts have characterized his rhetoric and style as authoritarian, drawing comparisons to previous fascist leaders, though other scholars describe him as an authoritarian populist or far-right nationalist [3]. His history of speech and actions viewed by critics as racist or sympathetic to white supremacy has also been widely documented [4]. Pew noted that current European attitudes resemble those recorded in the early and mid-2000s, another period of trans-Atlantic tensions driven by war in the Middle East and other disputes [1].