It will come as no surprise that views of the United States have plummeted in Europe and views of the European Union have become more positive since Donald Trump’s inauguration. But buried in the data is another interesting story that has received less attention. In many countries on the continent, the public has low confidence in their country’s own leaders. What’s more, this confidence is lower in some places than Americans’ confidence in Trump. Additionally, the percentage in the EU saying their own country is on the wrong track is higher than in the US.
Gallup’s latest data show that in 2024, “no EU member state preferred their own or Washington’s leadership over Brussels.” For the EU, the median approval rating was 62 percent. The median response for their own country’s government was 46 percent and for the US it was 35 percent. Approval of US leadership hit an all-time low of 19 percent at the end of the first Trump administration in 2020 before rising during Biden’s term. In the 2024 poll, the Brussels-Washington gap was 27 points!
Twenty-two out of 26 EU countries gave better marks to Brussels’ leadership than their own leadership, with four countries — Ireland, Germany, Denmark, and Slovakia – approving of both equally.
In the YouGov EuroTrack survey conducted in February 2025, US favorability in Europe has fallen by between six and 28 percentage points since August 2024. Favorable views of the US fell 20 points in Sweden (from 49 percent to 20 percent) and separately in Germany (52 percent to 32 percent), 26 points in France (50 percent to 24 percent). The drops were less steep in Britain (49 percent-37 percent), Spain (51 percent to 43 percent) and Italy (48 percent to 42 percent). In Denmark, a non-stop target of Trump’s plans, favorable views fell steeply, from 48 percent to 20 percent. More than half of those surveyed in Britain, Germany, Sweden, and Denmark have a negative view of the US. In Denmark’s case, 74 percent do. JD Vance’s trip last weekend is unlikely to improve things very much as Trump still appears hell-bent on “getting Greenland.”
Support for the EU was striking in a new Eurobarometer survey taken in all 27 EU member countries. Overall, 74 percent felt their country benefited from EU membership. That is the highest response recorded since the question was first asked in 1983. Sixty-two percent, nearly an all-time high, wanted the EU to play a more important role, but just 44 percent expected it would. Eighteen percent said the EU should play a less important role.. Two-thirds wanted the EU to take a more prominent role in protecting European citizens against global crises and security risks and only 10 percent less.
Perhaps in response to US criticism, when asked what the EU should focus on “in order to reinforce its position in the world,” the top responses was defense and security” (36 percent) followed by competitiveness (32 percent).
Inflation and the cost of living topped the list of concerns for the European Parliament to address (43 percent), followed by the fight against poverty and social inclusion (31 percent), and the EU’s defense security (31 percent). Twenty-one percent mentioned climate. Sixty-one percent say things are going in the wrong direction in their country, and 51 percent felt similarly about the EU. In the March Harvard/Harris poll in the US, 49 percent of registered voters gave the wrong track response.
In YouGov’s March UK poll, 60 percent had an unfavorable view of PM Keir Starmer compared to 32 percent with a favorable one. This poll and others do show slight improvement in his fortunes from the beginning of the year. Twenty-seven percent in France approved of the job Emmanuel Macron was doing, while 72 percent disapproved. In the Harvard/Harris poll, 47 percent of registered voters rated Trump unfavorably and 49 percent approved of the job he was doing. Tensions between the US and Europe are nothing new. One could say the differences in outlook are as old as our history. Polls show there have long been public opinion differences between Europe and America about the role government should play, with Europe historically preferring a much stronger role for government and a more generous welfare state. Today’s differences between Europe and Donald Trump on defense spending, tariffs, Ukraine, and competitiveness are broad and deep. The turbulence that has characterized the relationship thus far in 2025 appears likely to continue on “Liberation Day” with new tariffs and beyond.