The 2025 Democracy Perception Index summarizes attitudes toward democracy, geopolitics and global power players, and canvassed more than 110,000 respondents across 100 countries. A majority of people surveyed had an overall negative perception of the U.S., marking a steep decline from last year. America’s reputation took a particularly massive hit in EU countries — perhaps unsurprisingly, as U.S. President Donald Trump has called the bloc “horrible,” “pathetic” and “formed to screw the United States.”
- China more popular than the US in most countries polled
Meanwhile, China kept improving its global standing, overtaking the U.S. for the first time and recording mostly positive perceptions in all regions except Europe. Russia, the reputation of which tanked in the wake of President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, is still (slightly) more unpopular than the U.S. — though its image is also improving.
Trump’s reputation is in line with that of his country. The survey showed he’s less popular worldwide than his Russian and Chinese counterparts, Putin and Xi Jinping. Trump recorded the worst score among a range of political, cultural and spiritual leaders that includes X owner Elon Musk, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, the late Pope Francis, Taylor Swift and Kim Kardashian.
Donald Trump is the most globally recognized political leader, with 85% of respondents saying they know who he is. Vladimir Putin follows closely at 81%, while 63% are familiar with Xi Jinping and 35% with Narendra Modi. When it comes to perception, however, Trump has an almost universal negative perception rating: in 82% of countries around the world, Trump has a net negative rating, significantly worse than both Putin (61%) and Xi (44%)
Net Favourability of Political Leaders
Political leader | Net rating | Percent awareness |
Pope Francis | 16 | 72% |
Xi Jinping | 2 | 63% |
Narendra Modi | 0 | 35% |
Elon Musk | -11 | 73% |
Vladmir Putin | -17 | 81% |
Donald Trump | -30 | 85% |
Donald Trump stands out with the most universally negative image: in 82% of countries, more people view him negatively (57% on average) than positively (27%). Vladimir Putin follows closely, with net negative perceptions in 61% of countries, and Xi Jinping in 44%. In contrast, Pope Francis and Angelina Jolie are the most admired, enjoying consistently positive ratings across the globe. While Elon Musk has an overall net negative perception, Bill Gates seems to be very highly regarded with a net positive score that surpasses both Pope Francis and Taylor Swift.
Views from Country Categories
Country Category | Trump | Putin | Xi |
Democracy | -37 | -39 | -17 |
Authoritarian | -22 | 5 | 20 |
Americas | -29 | -27 | -4 |
Asia-Pacific | -27 | -3 | 1 |
Europe | -44 | -49 | -21 |
MENA | -43 | 1 | 18 |
Sub-Saharan Africa | 4 | 16 | 31 |
Donald Trump is viewed negatively across nearly every region of the world—especially in democratic countries. In Europe and other democratic states, perceptions of Trump are nearly as negative as those of Vladimir Putin. Only in Sub-Saharan Africa does Trump receive a slightly positive rating.Putin, meanwhile, is perceived just as negatively as Trump in democratic countries, but opinion is more neutral in Asia and the MENA region, and tilts slightly positive in authoritarian countries and across Sub-Saharan Africa.
By contrast, Xi Jinping receives far less negative ratings overall. Global perceptions are more evenly split, with slightly positive views in authoritarian countries—especially in MENA and Sub-Saharan Africa. In democratic countries, including Europe, Xi’s image is negative, but less so than that of Trump or Putin.
Country New Favourability
Jurisdiction | Net rating | # of jurisdictions surveyed |
Japan | 39 | 55 |
Germany | 24 | 99 |
UK | 16 | 94 |
China | 14 | 99 |
Brazil | 13 | 71 |
France | 11 | 67 |
United Nations | 2 | 100 |
India | 1 | 95 |
Saudi Arabia | -1 | 86 |
USA | -5 | 97 |
Russia | -9 | 99 |
Israel | -23 | 98 |
(Full List in Report)
US Popularity Collapses Worldwide in Wake of Trump’s Return – POLITICO
What's not included here is Russia still hates America despite all the ass kissing Trump is doing 💀
