Since President Trump took office the image of the U.S. has hit record lows in six nations, with most people in a new 13-country survey citing its response to the pandemic, a Pew Research Center survey shows.
Ratings of the United States reached a record low in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, Canada, Australia, the poll shows.
Just 41% of respondents in the UK express a favourable opinion of the U.S., the lowest percentage registered in any Pew Research Center survey there. In France, only 31% see the U.S. positively, matching the grim ratings from March 2003, at the height of U.S.-France tensions over the U.S.-led Iraq War. Germans give the U.S. shallow marks on the survey: 26% rate the U.S. favourably, similar to the 25% in the same March 2003 poll.
The survey suggests that the way President Trump has handled the coronavirus pandemic has led to the decline over the past year. Across the 13 nations surveyed, a median of just 15% says the U.S. has done a decent job of dealing with the outbreak. In contrast, most say the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Union have done an excellent job.
All 13 countries had mostly low ratings for President Donald Trump with the highest rating being in Japan where only 25% of respondents said that they had confidence in him to do the right thing in world affairs. German Chancellor Angela Merkel was the most trusted current world leader in the survey with a median of 76% having confidence in her to do the right thing in world affairs.
