BERLIN (Reuters) - The image of the United States has deteriorated sharply across the globe under President Donald Trump and an overwhelming majority of people in other countries have no confidence in his ability to lead, a survey from the Pew Research Center showed. 
 
 Five months into Trump’s presidency, the survey spanning 37 nations showed U.S. favorability ratings in the rest of the world slumping to 49 percent from 64 percent at the end of Barack Obama’s eight years in the White House. 
 
 But the falls were far steeper in some of America’s closest allies, including U.S. neighbors Mexico and Canada, and European partners like Germany and Spain. 
 
 Trump took office in January pledging to put “America First”. Since then he has pressed ahead with plans to build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico, announced he will pull out of the Paris climate accord, and accused countries including Canada, Germany and China of unfair trade practices. 
 
 On his first foreign trip as president in early June, Trump received warm welcomes in Saudi Arabia and Israel, but a cool reception from European partners, with whom he clashed over NATO spending, climate and trade. 
 
 Just 30 percent of Mexicans now say they have a favorable view of the United States, down from 66 percent at the end of the Obama era. In Canada and Germany, favorability ratings slid by 22 points, to 43 percent and 35 percent, respectively. 
 
 In many European countries, the ratings were comparable to those seen at the end of the presidency of George W. Bush, whose 2003 invasion of Iraq was deeply unpopular. 
 
 “The drop in favorability ratings for the United States is widespread,” the Pew report said. “The share of the public with a positive view of the U.S. has plummeted in a diverse set of countries from Latin America, North America, Europe, Asia and Africa”. 
 
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 The survey, based on the responses of 40,447 people and conducted between Feb. 16 and May 8 this year, showed even deeper mistrust of Trump himself, with only 22 percent of those surveyed saying they had confidence he would do the right thing in world affairs, compared to 64 percent who trusted Obama. 
 
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 Both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, with confidence ratings of 27 percent and 28 percent respectively, scored higher than Trump. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, with a confidence rating of 42 percent, scored highest among the four leaders in the survey. 
 
 The countries with the lowest confidence in Trump were Mexico, at 5 percent and Spain at 7 percent. The only two countries where ratings improved compared to Obama were Russia, where confidence in the U.S. president surged to 53 percent from 11 percent, and Israel, where it rose 7 points to 56 percent. 
 
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 Globally, 75 percent of respondents described Trump as “arrogant”, 65 percent as “intolerant” and 62 percent as “dangerous”. A majority of 55 percent also described him as a “strong leader”. 
 
 The survey showed widespread disapproval of Trump’s signature policy proposals, with 76 percent unhappy with his plan to build the wall on the border with Mexico, 72 percent against his withdrawal from major trade agreements and 62 percent opposed to his plans to restrict travel to the U.S. from some majority-Muslim countries. 
 
 On the positive side, the survey showed that 58 percent of respondents had a positive view of Americans in general. And in many regions of the world, a majority or plurality of respondents said they expected relations with the United States to stay roughly the same in spite of Trump. ||||| Global views of the U.S. and its president have shifted dramatically downward since the end of Barack Obama’s presidency and the start of Donald Trump’s, and they are now at similar levels to ratings from the George W. Bush era, according to a new Pew Research Center report that examines attitudes in 37 countries. 
 
 Since the Center started tracking global opinions of the U.S. and its president in 2002, these views have risen and fallen dramatically. You can explore the arcs of U.S. favorability ratings in countries around the world by using this interactive chart builder. (Although the Center doesn’t conduct surveys in every country every year, patterns over time should be clear.) 
 
 Here’s a quick global tour highlighting trends in U.S. favorability and confidence in the U.S. president: 
 
 1 Mexico and Canada have lost confidence in the U.S. president. In the United States’ southern and northern neighbors, confidence has fluctuated over the past three presidencies but declined most sharply this year. Just 22% of Canadians and 5% of Mexicans have at least some confidence in the U.S. president, down from more than eight-in-ten Canadians (83%) in 2016 and half of Mexicans (49%) in 2015. While Canadians generally have indicated greater confidence in U.S. presidents than Mexicans have, current Trump confidence levels are lower than both countries’ Bush-era lows. 
 
 These countries have generally maintained fairly steady levels of U.S. favorability over the past 15 years, yet they both show a sharp drop in U.S. favorability since Trump took office. Three-in-ten Mexicans have a very or somewhat favorable view of the U.S., down from two-thirds (66%) in 2015. About four-in-ten Canadians have favorable views of the U.S. (43%), down from 68% in 2015. 
 
 2 In Western European countries, confidence in the U.S. president has declined sharply. Clear majorities in the United Kingdom, France and Germany had at least some confidence in Obama, with shares reaching 93% in Germany at the start of his presidency. (German confidence declined somewhat in 2014 after allegations the U.S. National Security Agency eavesdropped on Chancellor Angela Merkel, though it rebounded when the German investigation was later dropped.) 
 
 Current Trump confidence ratings in these countries are similar to their respective lows during the George W. Bush years. For example, only 13% of French respondents had at least some confidence in Bush in 2008, and now 14% in France say the same for Trump. Likewise, 14% of Germans had at least some confidence in Bush in 2008, while 11% are confident in Trump now. 
 
 In Europe, Poland is a bit of an outlier, since its confidence in the U.S. president changed less dramatically across the three administrations. Polish respondents had a Bush-era high of 47% confidence and an Obama-era high of 64%, yet just 23% of Poles have confidence in Trump in 2017. 
 
 When it comes to U.S. favorability, Poland has remained relatively positive and stable since 2002. France and Germany, on the other hand, show greater fluctuation across administrations, with higher overall U.S. favorability during Obama’s presidency. 
 
 3 Russia and Israel have gained confidence in the U.S. president. Since Obama’s final term, confidence has gone up among Russians and Israelis. This year, 53% of Russians have at least some confidence in the U.S. president, up from an Obama-era low of 11% in 2015. Russian confidence in Obama rose and fell over the president’s eight years in office, which saw tensions with Russia over Ukraine and other issues. 
 
 In Israel, 56% are confident in President Trump, up from 49% confidence for Obama in 2015. Over the past 15 years, Israeli confidence in the U.S. president was highest in 2003, when 83% said they had at least some confidence in George W. Bush. 
 
 While more than half from both countries have confidence in Trump, Russia and Israel differ in overall U.S. favorability. Israel has shown consistently favorable views of the U.S. over the past 15 years (81% in 2017). Russia’s favorability of the U.S. has fluctuated more, but is up to 41% with Trump in office after hitting a low of 15% two years earlier. 
 
 4 Countries in the Middle East continue to have low favorability ratings for the U.S. Just 15% in Jordan and 18% in Turkey have at least a somewhat favorable view of the U.S. in 2017. While U.S. favorability in Jordan has remained relatively constant for the past six years, favorability in Turkey is down almost 10 percentage points from 2015 (when 29% expressed favorable views). U.S. favorability is consistently higher in Lebanon, reaching 55% in 2009, but has slowly declined to 34% in 2017. 
 
 Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan consistently have had low confidence in the U.S. president, regardless of who that was, over the past 15 years. Today, just 15% in Lebanon, 11% in Turkey and 9% in Jordan have confidence in Trump. 
 
 5 Japan and South Korea have sharply lower confidence in the U.S. president, but majorities remain favorable toward U.S. overall. Only around a quarter of Japanese respondents (24%) and 17% of South Koreans say they are confident in the U.S. president now that Trump is in office. That represents a 71-percentage-point drop in South Korea from 2015. And confidence among Japanese dropped 54 points between 2016 and 2017. 
 
 Despite this plunge in attitudes toward the U.S. president, overall U.S. favorability remains high in both countries. Three-quarters of South Koreans have a favorable view of the U.S. while 57% of people in Japan say the same. U.S. favorability gradually climbed among South Koreans since 2002, with a 9-point drop this year compared with 2015. In Japan, on the other hand, favorability declined during the Bush years, peaked in 2011 at 85% and fell to 57% in 2017. 
 
 Use this interactive to explore global opinions of the United States and confidence in its president since 2002. 
 
 Topics: U.S. Global Image and Anti-Americanism, U.S. Political Figures, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Middle East and North Africa, Donald Trump ||||| 
 
 President Trump walks to a joint statement in the Rose Garden with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House in Washington on June 26, 2017. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) 
 
 President Trump has alarmed citizens of the nation’s closest allies and others worldwide, diminishing the standing of the United States in their eyes, according to a wide-ranging international study released Monday. 
 
 But in the survey of 37 countries, Russia is a bright spot for Trump. As beleaguered as the president is at home, a majority of Russians say they have confidence in him. And Russians’ attitudes toward the United States have improved since Trump took office. 
 
 Elsewhere, though, and with remarkable speed, Trump’s presidency has taken a toll on the United States’ image abroad. 
 
 
 
 
 
 The international survey by the Pew Research Center found that favorable ratings of the United States have decreased from 64 percent of people across all countries surveyed at the end of Barack Obama’s presidency to 49 percent this spring. The new figures are similar to those toward the end of the George W. Bush administration. 
 
 The president himself has fared even worse: A median 22 percent are confident that Trump will do the right thing in global affairs, down from 64 percent who had confidence in Obama. 
 
 From Chile to Italy, from Sweden to Japan, majorities consider the president arrogant, intolerant, unqualified and dangerous. On the flip side, most view him as a strong leader. And many expect their country’s relationship with the United States to withstand his presidency. 
 
 
 
 
 
 It is perhaps unsurprising that a man who campaigned on a pledge to put American interests first would generate backlash in other parts of the world. Nor is it surprising that the negative reaction would carry over to opinions about the United States itself. Particularly in Europe, “that’s almost a reflex,” said Daniel Fried, a former assistant secretary of state for European affairs. 
 
 What is surprising, said Frank G. Wisner, a former diplomat who served under Democrats and Republicans, is the degree to which Trump has scorned principles the United States has not only long espoused but also helped to define in the previous century. These include democratic governance, free markets, collective security, human rights and the rule of law — commitments that together, Wisner said, delineate the liberal international order. 
 
 (Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post) 
 
 “America’s image has taken hits in recent years, from the decision to invade Iraq to the events of 2007 and 2008, when the American financial model took a huge hit,” he said. “But the most consequential is the ascent of Mr. Trump to the Oval Office.” 
 
 Global popular opinion matters, Wisner said, in part because it defines how foreign leaders engage with American interests. 
 
 The depths of disapproval registered abroad suggest that Trump has undone the progress Obama made in burnishing the American brand. It took Bush eight years, and the quagmire in Iraq, to notch such dismal ratings overseas, according to Pew. It has taken Trump six months. 
 
 [ America’s global popularity rises under Obama presidency ] 
 
 His unpopularity is the result of a mix of disagreement with his signature policy objectives, such as building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, and distaste for his character, according to Pew’s analysis of poll results. 
 
 Among other world leaders studied by Pew, German Chancellor Angela Merkel receives relatively high marks. The share of people who report little or no confidence in her, a median of 31 percent across 37 countries, is less than half that for Trump, at 74 percent. The survey found that 59 percent lack confidence in Russian President Vladimir Putin and 53 percent in Chinese President Xi Jinping. 
 
 Trust in the American president plummeted most in some of the United States’ closest allies in Europe and Asia, as well as in the countries it borders, Canada and Mexico. In only two countries, Russia and Israel, does Trump receive a higher score than Obama. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Since 2002, when Pew began examining the United States’ image abroad, perceptions of the United States have run in parallel with judgments about the country’s president. Opinions of the United States have improved in Russia, as confidence in the president rose from 11 percent toward the end of Obama’s two terms to 53 percent under Trump, which is among his best ratings — along with figures for Israel, Nigeria and Vietnam. 
 
 There is no directly comparable number for Americans, as approval ratings and confidence questions employ different wording, although public polls have found that majorities of Americans disapprove of Trump’s overall job performance and his handling of foreign policy. 
 
 Germans hold some of the most negative opinions of the United States, with 62 percent viewing the country unfavorably and 87 percent lacking confidence in Trump. 
 
 Germany joins more than half of the 37 countries surveyed where approval for the United States fell by double digits this year. In Mexico, positive views of the United States have been cut in half, from 66 to 30 percent. Women tend to see the United States more negatively than do men in 10 of the countries surveyed, and in 16 countries, older people are more distrustful than the young. 
 
 At the same time, affinity for Americans remains intact, as does the popularity of American popular culture, Pew found. Most people think Washington respects the personal freedoms of Americans, yet there is growing doubt about American-style democracy, in France and Germany, among other countries. With Asia a notable exception, more people disapprove than approve of the spread of American ideas and customs to their countries. 
 
 The complexity was on display recently in a classroom at the Free University in Berlin. The topic was “Democracy and the State in the U.S.” 
 
 One of the professors, Christian Lammert, said his students represent the first living generation to come to political consciousness with the United States’ position on the global stage in doubt. American democracy, in the students’ eyes, had proved imperfect, not least owing to the treatment of racial minorities. With their own country, Germany, playing a newly authoritative role, they are learning how fundamentally geopolitics could shift over the next decades, Lammert said. 
 
 In Britain, a country seized by political uncertainty as it sorts out its relationship to Europe, “there’s incredulity about Trump,” even among many who supported the Brexit referendum, said Michael Borio, a local council member in London. 
 
 Nicholas Guyatt, an American historian at the University of Cambridge who has written about the waning of American power, attributed Trump’s low favorability abroad not just to the spectacle of bedlam in Washington but to a deeper disconnect between the American president and the rest of the world. 
 
 Abroad, Guyatt said, people see that Trump’s vision of American greatness is a relic. 
 
 “We’re in an uncertain place, because if the U.S. is no longer playing this role in a particular vision of world order, what’s the substitute? A different vision? Chaos?” he said. 
 
 The Pew Research Center survey was conducted from February to May among national random samples of 852 to 2,464 interviews in each of the 37 countries. The margin of sampling error for each country ranges from plus or minus 3.2 to 5.7 percentage points. 
 
 Emily Guskin contributed to this report. 
 
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 Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news ||||| Three-quarters of world has little or no confidence in Trump, Pew study finds 
 
 More than three-quarters of the world has little or no confidence in Donald Trump’s global leadership and his signature policies, with support for the American presidency collapsing fastest among America’s traditional allies in Europe, according to new polling by the Pew Research Center. 
 
 In many countries, support for the US president is now below that of George Bush in 2004, following the Iraq invasion. Globally, two-thirds of respondents describe Trump as “arrogant and dangerous”. 
 
 Qatar blockade exposes rifts in Trump administration's 'peculiar' foreign policy Read more 
 
 The research conducted across 37 countries shows a median of 22% have some or a great deal of confidence in Trump to do the right thing when it comes to international affairs. Almost three-quarters (74%) have little to no confidence in the Republican leader. 
 
 By contrast, in the final years of Barack Obama’s presidency, a median of 64% expressed confidence in Trump’s predecessor to direct America’s role in the world. 
 
 The polling also shows that the low level of support for the president is leading to a decline in support for wider American values. Just 49 % expressed a broadly positive view of the US, compared with 64% in surveys carried out 2015 and 2016. 
 
 For the first time in Pew research history, most Canadians no longer regard America as a force for good in the world. 
 
 Just 43% of Canadians have a positive view of their neighbour. 
 
 The two major countries expressing faith in Trump’s ability to be a force for good are Israel and Russia. 
 
 The US president has persistently low ratings across Latin America and Europe, where medians of only 14% and 18% respectively have confidence in his leadership. Only 5% in Mexico and 7% in Spain have confidence in Trump. 
 
 The survey also finds that Trump is personally disliked globally, with most seeing him as arrogant, intolerant and dangerous, while few think of him as well-qualified or as someone who cares about ordinary people. 
 
 Trump’s supporters will argue his “America First” policies were never intended to make him popular globally, and some of his domestic approval ratings have shown a small increase. But such high levels of unpopularity are likely to make other world leaders believe there is no electoral downside in airing their differences with him – or with the US. 
 
 The poll suggests that Angela Merkel has replaced the American president as the politician to whom the world’s people look for leadership. 
 
 Forty-two per cent expressed confidence in the German chancellor, while 31% said they did not have confidence in her. A median of 60% in Europe have confidence in her, a rare achievement for someone who has been at the helm of Germany for more than a decade. Her support is especially strong on the centre-left, underlining how difficult it has become for the opposition German Social Democratic Party to land a blow upon her in the German election campaign. 
 
 In contrast, just 6% of Germans said they believed Trump was qualified to be president; 13% believe he cares about ordinary people; and 91% regard him as arrogant, 81% as intolerant, and 76% as dangerous. 
 
 In the UK, 89% see him as arrogant, 77% as intolerant and 69% as dangerous. Globally, 65% think Trump is intolerant and 62% that he is dangerous. 
 
 Abandoning Paris climate deal marks Trump's return to angry populism Read more 
 
 Most of his trademark policies are also unpopular, including his proposed wall on the Mexican border, his withdrawal from the Paris climate change treaty and his ban on immigrants from several mainly Muslim countries. 
 
 In Germany, hosts to the G20 summit of world leaders next month, only 9% support Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris climate change treaty. Globally, only 19% support the move. 
 
 In just four of 10 EU countries surveyed does the public feel positively inclined toward the US as a country. The most widespread support is found in Poland (73%), Hungary (63%) and Italy (61%). In spite of the “special relationship” between the US and the UK, only 50% of the British see the US favourably. 
 
 The most negative views of the US are in Germany (62% unfavorable), Spain (60%) and the Netherlands (59%). And in the past year, the share of the Spanish public that expresses a very unfavourable opinion has roughly tripled from 7% to 23%. 
 
 In more than half of the 37 countries surveyed, positive views of the US experienced double-digit drops in 2017. 
 
 In Mexico, positive views of the the US have roughly halved, down 36 points from 66% to 30%.
– Five months into the era of President Trump, the world's perception of the US and its leader has sunk to the level it was at late in George W. Bush's presidency, according to a new Pew Research Center poll of people in 37 countries. The poll was conducted among more than 40,000 people between February and May. Among the findings: There has been a massive decline in confidence in the US in its nearest neighbors, Pew says. The proportion of people saying they have at least some confidence in the American president has dived from 83% to 22% in Canada, and from 49% to just 5% in Mexico. Some 55% rated Trump as a strong leader, though 75% said he was arrogant, 65% intolerant, and 62% dangerous. Only 23% said he cared about ordinary people. Overall, just 22% of people polled worldwide had confidence in the US president to do the right thing—and only 49% had a favorable view of the US, down from 64% two years ago. The Guardian notes that this is the first time in Pew polling history that a majority of Canadians have not seen the US as a force for good in the world. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin also had low marks worldwide, though not as low as Trump. The decline was especially steep in western Europe and Latin America, but the fall in confidence was widespread, reports Reuters. "The share of the public with a positive view of the US has plummeted in a diverse set of countries from Latin America, North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa," Pew says. Poll respondents disapproved of all five Trump policies they were asked about, including the US-Mexico border wall and withdrawal from trade agreements. There are two bright spots for Trump: Russia and Israel. Confidence in the US president is up in both countries and favorable views of the US are up to 41% in Russia from 15% two years ago. Former diplomat Frank Wisner links the fall in confidence in the US to Trump's lack of commitment to principles including free markets and the rule of law. "America’s image has taken hits in recent years, from the decision to invade Iraq to the events of 2007 and 2008, when the American financial model took a huge hit," he tells the Washington Post. "But the most consequential is the ascent of Mr. Trump to the Oval Office."