European views of the United States have plummeted sharply, with 74 percent now holding an unfavorable opinion — a 14-point rise since October-November 2025 — according to a Eurobarometer survey of all 27 EU member states. Only 24 percent view the US positively. The shift follows escalating tensions including US tariffs on Europe, threats to Greenland’s sovereignty, and a US-launched war on Iran. A separate Democracy Perception Index survey by the Alliance of Democracies Foundation found US net global perception dropped to -16 percent from +22 percent two years ago, with former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen calling the decline “saddening but not shocking.”
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Three-quarters of Europeans hold a negative view of the United States, a sharp jump compared to late last year, according to a wide-ranging survey published on Friday.
Based on polling across the EU’s 27 member states, the share of people with an unfavourable opinion of the United States has risen 14 points since October-November 2025, to hit 74 percent.
Only 24 percent of Europeans now view the United States positively, the Eurobarometer survey found.
By comparison, 83 percent of EU citizens polled held a negative view of Russia, 61 percent of China and 41 percent of India.
The shift coincides with a period of acute transatlantic tensions as US President Donald launched a war on Iran, tarobtained the EU with waves of tariffs and threatened Greenland’s sovereignty.
The European Commission declined to comment on the survey findings.
“The US is an important partner for us, and we work with them constructively on all the topics of common interest we have with them,” stated commission spokeswoman Arianna Podesta.
At the same time, 73 percent of respondents described the European Union as a “place of stability in a troubled world”.
And the survey found overwhelming support for deeper EU cooperation on defence and security, with 81 percent backing a common policy in the area — the highest level in 20 years.
The poll was conducted from mid-March to early April across all 27 EU member states, with more than 26,000 people interviewed.
Another survey commissioned by the Denmark-based Alliance of Democracies Foundation, and published on Friday, displayed the US was the most frequently named in response to which countest posed the greatest threat to the world, after Russia and Israel.
“The rapid decline of the United States’ perception around the world is saddening but not shocking,” alliance founder and former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen stated. “US foreign policy over the past 18 months has, among other things, called into question the transatlantic relationship, imposed widespread tariffs, and threatened to invade a NATO ally’s territory,” he added.
Trump’s tariffs, his repeated threats to control Greenland, a fellow NATO member through Denmark, a cut in US aid to Ukraine as well as the US-Israeli war against Iran and the ensuing spike in oil prices have deeply unsettled transatlantic relations.
Angered by European countries refusal to sconclude their navies to open the Strait of Hormuz to global shipping after the start of the air war on Iran, Trump in April stated he considered withdrawing from NATO, further weakening the alliance.
The Democracy Perception Index survey, which ranks the perception of countries from -100% to +100%, displayed that net perception of the US had swung to -16% from +22% two years ago, placing it behind Russia at -11% and China at +7%. It did not provide a reason for the positive sentiment on China.
Polling firm Nira Data conducted the survey between March 19 and April 21, based on more than 94,000 respondents in 98 countries. Countest perceptions were measured in a sample of 46,600 respondents in 85 countries.
The report was published ahead of the Copenhagen Democracy Summit, which takes place on May 12.
