Australians hold some of the least favourable views of US, Donald Trump
Washington: The research found Australians have the least positive views of America and Donald Trump in the world; Only 18 percent said they trust the U.S. president to do the right thing on global issues.
A Pew Research Center survey of more than 42,000 people in 36 countries found that most of the world now has a negative view of the United States, half think Washington is not a reliable partner and less than a quarter trust Trump.
This comes as banter and trash talk between Australian and American football fans has at times escalated into open hostility during the World Cup, sparking debate on social media about Australia’s views on the US.
The research found 76 per cent of Australians have a negative view of the world’s most powerful country; This is significantly higher than the United Kingdom (58 percent), Canada (66), Japan (50), Spain (67) and France (70).
Only Sweden, Malaysia, Pakistan, Turkey, and the West Bank/East Jerusalem (studied as a separate country by the Pew Research Center) had more negative views. The United States was the most popular country in Israel (81 percent had a positive opinion), Ghana (68), Nigeria and Kenya (63 each).
The percentage of people in Australia who rate the US as a reliable partner has fallen to 37 per cent from 79 per cent in 2022, when Joe Biden becomes president; This mirrors trends in many other countries.
“This decline in opinion occurred in many countries with which the United States has long-standing economic and security ties,” the researchers said, citing Canada as an example. “Large declines were also measured in some of America’s key Asia-Pacific partners.”
Australians also have some of the most negative views of Trump; 82 percent say they do not trust Trump to do the right thing in world affairs. This is roughly on par with Canada, Thailand, Italy, Germany and France.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has gained the trust of more Australians than Trump; While 23 percent said they trust Trump to do the right thing, this rate was 18 percent for Trump. Xi was more trusted than Trump in the majority of countries surveyed; often by much larger margins than in Australia.
Across 36 countries, there was little support for how Trump is handling key foreign policy issues. Nearly three-quarters of those polled disapproved of his stance on Iran, tariffs and the conflict in Gaza, as well as the war between Russia and Ukraine.
The global survey was: Taken between February and May 2026This means that negative views of Trump are being recorded at the same time as a steady increase in support for Pauline Hanson’s One Nation. Most or all of the talks in each country occurred after the Iran war began on Feb. 28, the researchers said. The nonpartisan Pew Research Center has been studying attitudes toward the United States for more than two decades.
The results come as Australia’s Lowy Institute also found a decline in sentiment towards the US in its annual survey. Trust in the superpower to act responsibly has fallen to a record low of 31 percent, just 3 percentage points ahead of China.
But nearly three-quarters of Australians still rate the US alliance as “very important” or “fairly important” to national security. Lowy survey found.
Despite recent World Cup tourism, fewer Australians are traveling to the US for holidays. Arrivals fell a further 9.2 percent in the first five months of 2026 compared to the same period last year; this decline had already decreased compared to 2024. This was entirely due to a 10.7 percent drop in tourist visas; While there was a slight increase in business visas, there was an increase of approximately 5 percent in student visas.
This reflected a worldwide trend. According to preliminary data from the US Department of Commerce, tourist visas issued to Italians fell by 12.6 percent in the five months through May, France by 12.7 percent, Germany by 16.4 percent and the United Kingdom by 3 percent.
The number of visitors from Denmark, the Greenland region that Trump openly covets for US “national security” purposes, has decreased by 30 percent compared to 2025.
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Michael Koziol is the North America correspondent for The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former Sydney editor, Sun-Herald deputy editor and a federal political correspondent in Canberra.Connect with: X or email.
