Donald Trump Has the Same Approval Rating in Spain and the United States

According to a survey carried out in 25 countries, Trump is the most distrusted world leader.

Donald Trump usually says that, since becoming the president of the United States, “The U.S. is respected again!” The last time he made this assertion was on Sept. 21 at a rally in Missouri. Exactly four days later, the United Nations General Assembly appeared to question this statement after laughing at the commander-in-chief and the government during his speech at the organization.

Today, a poll from the Pew Research Center, one of most prestigious organizations for public opinion polls in the United States, has discovered who the most respected world leader is, and it’s not Trump. In a survey of 26,112 people in 25 different countries, results reveal that though the U.S. as a whole has an approval rating of 50 percent and a disapproval rating of 43 percent, the problem is when they are asked about Trump. Only 23 percent of respondents have confidence in the American president, while 70 percent clearly and plainly declare that they do not trust the president. Trump is, in fact, the least trusted world leader, ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is distrusted by 62 percent of respondents.

Spain is one of the countries that best demonstrates this dynamic. When Barack Obama was in the White House, support for the president was around 60 percent. Now it is around 42 percent. It is a significant decrease but with an upside — Trump is as popular (or more) in Spain as George W. Bush when he was in office. In general, Trump has similar public approval to Bush, and in various cases surpasses him. This could indicate that conservative nationalist and populist policies of the current president are part of a global trend.

According to a Gallup opinion poll, Trump’s popularity last week in the U.S. was 42 percent. Although it is always risky to compare two such different polls — Pew’s poll took place in May and June, while Gallup’s is more recent — it is however noteworthy that Trump’s popularity is the same in Spain and the U.S.

Trump’s presidency is damaging the international image of the United States, which has taken a nosedive in all polled countries since the Obama presidency, although he still has a popularity rating of 50 percent. Interestingly, the countries in which this trend has not been reported, like Hungary, Poland and Israel, are countries that have been accused of adopting ultranationalist policies. In general, among respondents, there is a complete polarization, with respondents who define themselves as “conservatives” supporting Trump, and the rest rejecting him.