America's global leadership image took a big hit last year

President Trump's "America First" presidency has pulled the image of American leadership to new lows, according to the new Gallup World Poll report released Thursday. America's median leadership approval rating across 134 countries in 2017 was 30 percent, 4 points below the previous low of 34 percent in 2008 and significantly lower than the 48 percent approval in 2016, the last year of Barack Obama's presidency. Disapproval of U.S. leadership also hit a new high, 43 percent, greater than the disapproval number for any global power over the past decade, Gallup said.

Views of American leadership actually rose by more than 10 percentage points in four countries — Liberia, Macedonia, Israel, and Belarus — Gallup found, but fell by more than 10 points in 65 nations, including drops of more than 40 points in Portugal, Belgium, Canada, and, ironically, Norway. The 25 percent U.S. approval number in Europe isn't a record low — it was lower during the final two years of the George W. Bush presidency — but Trump's America tied the previous nadir in Asia (30 percent) and hit a new low in the Americas (24 percent). Africa remains a bright spot at 51 percent. Among world powers, Germany is now on top, at 41 percent, while Russia lags at 27 percent and China just beats out the U.S. at 31 percent.

"It is too early in Trump's presidency to deem his 'America First' foreign policy a success or failure," writes Gallup's Julie Ray. "However, it is clear that based on the trajectory of what the world thinks of the U.S., many of the U.S. alliances and partnerships that the Trump administration considers a 'great strength' are potentially at risk." Read more at Gallup.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up