Since the start of President's Trump presidency, the world's perception of the United States has changed due to several of Trump's new policies—and his sometimes questionable behavior. It may not surprise you to learn that Trump's actions are widely unpopular in many countries around the globe.
According to a recent research from the Pew Research Center, only 49 percent of people polled from across 37 nations had a positive view of the U.S., compared to the 64 percent during the last few years of Barack Obama’s presidency. Obviously, this is an alarming difference. This decline in favorability has taken place in various countries in Latin America, North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. The only places where favorability has increased were Russia and Vietnam, the Pew Research Center reports. Interesting.
None of Trump’s major policies seem to be popular—which isn't exactly shocking given their reception in the U.S. According to the Pew Research Center, only a third of those surveyed supported Trump’s travel ban, and only 19 percent supported the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris climate change accord. When it came to “the wall,” only 16 percent favored Trump’s plan to build the infamous barrier between the U.S. and Mexico, and approximately 94 percent of Mexicans strongly opposed the building of a wall. These stats really speak for themselves.
Despite all of the negative views toward Trump and his policies, there was a glimmer of hope and positivity in the research: 58 percent have a favorable impression of Americans. Score! American culture was also highly regarded, with nearly two-thirds of the countries saying they liked American music and movies. In addition, 54 percent believed that the U.S. government respected Americans’ rights.
Pew concluded the survey by asking what future relations will look like between the U.S. and the countries surveyed, and a majority believed that relations will remain the same during this presidency.
At the end of the day, as long as relations between other countries and the U.S. remain the same, and those countries have a positive view of the American people, we’ll be okay. Hopefully.