WASHINGTON — The share of Canadians who view the United States favourably has dropped 20 percentage points since last year.
That finding comes from new polling by the Pew Research Center that also suggests U.S. President Donald Trump is receiving mostly negative ratings from countries around the world.
"I think we see a major shift in how people see the U.S. in different parts of the world," said Richard Wike, the centre's director of global attitudes research. "And obviously a lot of that is tied to attitudes toward President Trump."
The poll found only 34 per cent of Canadians viewed the United States favourably — a steep decline from the 54 per cent recorded in 2024.
The centre conducted surveys in 24 nations and more than half of those polled in most countries said they lacked confidence in Trump's leadership in world affairs.
When asked about Trump's personal characteristics, most described him as arrogant and dangerous. Relatively few saw him as honest.
Trump has sent shock waves around the world with his global trade war and talk of American imperialism. He has floated taking over Greenland and making Canada a U.S. state.
Trump has repeatedly complained about historic allies and overturned America's stance on Russia's war in Ukraine. Trump has repeatedly touted a long-standing relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his confrontational Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was watched with alarm around the world.
The Pew Research Center found the majority of people polled in most countries expressed little or no confidence in Trump's ability to handle specific issues like immigration, the Russia-Ukraine war, conflicts between Israel and its neighbours and climate change.
They also said they had little or no confidence in Trump's ability to handle U.S.-China relations and global economic problems.
Canada had one of the lowest percentages of people who described Trump as diplomatic and only a small share of Canadians said U.S. democracy was working well.
"I think Canadians are looking across the border and saying that they don't see politics functioning very well in the United States right now," Wike said.
Pew, a Washington-based non-partisan think tank, surveyed 28,333 adults across 24 countries — not including the United States — from Jan. 8 to April 26 by phone, online and in person.
The centre noted that most of the survey was conducted after the meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy on Feb. 28 and before Trump took his trade war to the world with "reciprocal" tariffs on April 2.
Ratings of the United States have dropped significantly in 15 countries since last year. One of the largest decreases was recorded in Mexico — 29 per cent of Mexicans told Pew they had a favourable view of the U.S., down substantially from the 61 per cent reported in 2024.
More than six in 10 adults viewed the U.S. negatively in Canada and Mexico, as did majorities in Australia, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Turkey.
Half or more of the people surveyed in five countries — Israel, Nigeria, Hungary, India and Kenya — expressed confidence in Trump’s handling of world affairs.
Despite Trump's efforts to upend geopolitical norms, Americans maintain positive views of the other liberal democracies that make up the G7: Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, Italy and the European Union.
A separate survey from the The Pew Research Center released Wednesday found overall that majorities of Americans have a favourable view of G7 countries — despite those countries now having mixed or unfavourable views of the United States.
Trump's first visit to Canada during this presidential term will take place at the G7 leaders' summit in Kananaskis, Alta., from June 15 to 17.
"What we see right now is sort of a gap in how Americans are seeing G7 countries and how other G7 countries are seeing the United States," Wike said. "Canada is a good example of that."
Seventy-four per cent of Americans surveyed had a favourable view of Canada.
Among Americans, those who identify as liberal have more favourable views of the G7 nations than conservatives do. Liberals are also much more likely to think positively of Canada, France and Germany
For the G7 poll, Pew surveyed 3,605 American adults from March 24 to March 30 by phone or online.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 11, 2025.
Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press
