International Views of U.S. Recover From 2018 Low

In the wake of President Donald Trump's victory in the 2016 election, views of the United States deteriorated around the world and reached a low in 2017 and 2018. With the election of President Joe Biden, who is more popular internationally, approval started to rise again, peaking in 2022. However, between 2023 and 2018, positive attitudes towards the country still gained double digits in many places, for example Poland - now the most positive towards the U.S. ahead of Israel, Japan and South Korea. Spain and France were some of the most skeptical towards the U.S. among the 23 countries surveyed. This is according to an annual survey by Pew Research Center.

Unsurprisingly, favorability was down south of the U.S. border during the Trump administration. 66 percent of Mexicans had a favorable view of the U.S. towards the end of Obama's presidency and over 600 days into Trump's first term in 2018, that has fallen to just 32 percent. Trump labeled illegal immigrants from Mexico "rapists" and pledged to build a wall on America's southern border. In 2023, 63 percent of Mexicans once again said they viewed the U.S. positively. The situation is similar in Europe where favorability among key allies such as Germany, France and Spain evaporated, but bounced back since.