One hundred days into his second term, U.S. President Donald Trump and his “America First” policy are facing mounting challenges, according to new CGTN polls.
In February and April this year, CGTN conducted two global public opinion surveys involving 15,947 respondents from 38 countries.
Findings show a sharp decline in American public satisfaction with Trump’s governance. His tariff-centric approach and “America First” policy have triggered growing pessimism among respondents from both traditional U.S. allies and the Global South regarding future relations with the United States. The administration now faces a serious global trust deficit.
Global confidence in the U.S. declines
In the April survey, 48.9 percent of American respondents expressed dissatisfaction with Trump’s performance since taking office. Of those, 53.1 percent criticized his “reciprocal tariffs” policy for damaging the U.S. stock market, while 60.4 percent believed his domestic economic policies failed to control inflation and instead caused price increases. Meanwhile, 54 percent expressed serious concerns about his interest rate policies.
Discontent is also rising globally. Respondents from key U.S. allies expressed deep concern over strained ties with Washington. In France, Germany, Canada, Japan, and South Korea, more than 70 percent of respondents were pessimistic about their countries’ future relations with the U.S. Many cited the belief that the “America First” doctrine has made the U.S. less attentive to its allies. This sentiment was strongest in South Korea, where 87 percent strongly agreed, and over 70 percent in the UK, Germany, Canada, Australia, and Italy shared the view.
Likewise, confidence among Global South countries has rapidly declined. Of the 23 surveyed, 19 expressed pessimism about future ties with the U.S. In South Africa, Egypt, Peru, Indonesia, and Malaysia, optimism dropped by more than 20 percentage points.
Tariff bullying damages global public’s goodwill towards the U.S.
Both surveys found widespread opposition to U.S. tariff policy. Some 74.2 percent of global respondents believe the policy will seriously harm their countries’ economic development – a figure up 16.3 percentage points in just two months. Disapproval grew most in Saudi Arabia and Serbia, where negative views surged by 28.5 percentage points.
In Southeast Asia, countries like Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia – seen as “hard-hit areas” of U.S. tariffs – have shown growing resistance. Among respondents in these five countries, 60.2 percent believe “strengthening export controls and unilateral sanctions” harms their national development, up 15.5 percentage points from the previous survey. Meanwhile, 69.4 percent opposed “limiting investment by foreign technology enterprises” (up 14.3 percentage points), and 61.5 percent viewed U.S. “reducing dependence on foreign imports and supply chains” as detrimental to their countries (up 12.3 percentage points).
China’s firm countermeasures against U.S. tariffs received strong global backing. In 37 out of 38 countries surveyed, majorities supported China’s actions. Support among developing countries was especially strong – 13 countries, including Kenya, Egypt, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Malaysia, the UAE, and South Africa, saw support rates above 70 percent, with Kenya topping the list at 82.5 percent. Among developed countries, the UK led the G7 with a 70.5 percent support rate, followed by Canada (69.5 percent), Germany (66 percent), and France (65.5 percent).
The surveys were jointly conducted by CGTN and Renmin University of China via the Institute of International Communication in the New Era. Respondents included individuals from developed countries such as the U.S., the UK, France, and Japan, as well as from developing nations including Mexico, South Africa, and Malaysia.
