Poll: U.S. Global Image Drops Below Russia, China
The Democracy Perception Index found U.S. favorability fell to -16%, below Russia and China, as respondents cited Trump administration policies.
- Published Friday, May 8, 2026, the Democracy Perception Index survey found United States global net favorability plunged to-16% from +22% two years ago, placing it behind Russia at-11% and China at +7%.
- Former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen attributed the decline to President Donald Trump's tariffs, threats over Greenland, Ukraine aid cuts, and tensions tied to the Iran conflict over the past 18 months.
- Polling firm Nira Data conducted the Democracy Perception Index survey between March 19 and April 21, 2026, collecting responses from more than 94,000 people across 98 countries.
- The sharp favorability drop threatens to weaken United States diplomatic leverage and strain NATO cohesion ahead of the Copenhagen Democracy Summit scheduled for next week.
- Respondents frequently identified the United States as one of the greatest perceived threats to world stability, ranking it behind only Russia and Israel, marking a second consecutive year of decline.
15 Articles
15 Articles
Global perceptions of US fall below Russia under Trump, survey finds
Global perceptions of the U.S. have deteriorated for a second consecutive year and are now worse than views of Russia, an annual study on democracy published on Friday showed, as U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies continue to severely strain the NATO alliance. The Denmark-based Alliance of Democracies Foundation, which commissioned the survey, said the U.S. was also most frequently named in response to which country posed the greatest threat…
The US's international reputation is clearly affected by President Donald Trump. In Europe, the country of unlimited possibilities is most negatively perceived, as the annual study on the perception of democracy (Democracy Perception Index) shows. In the survey conducted by the Alliance of Democrats of the former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen this spring, the image of the US continued to fall from minus 5 percent in the previous y…
Global perceptions of US fall below Russia under Trump, survey finds
Global perceptions of the U.S. have deteriorated for a second consecutive year and are now worse than views of Russia, an annual study on democracy published on Friday showed, as U.S. President Donald Trump's policies continue to severely strain the NATO alliance.
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- 37% of the sources lean Left, 36% of the sources are Center
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