According to a raft of global surveys released Tuesday morning, citizens of NATO member countries have a better view of America now that President Joe Biden is in charge.
Europe and other countries soured on the US as Trump labeled the Western alliance "obsolete" and slapped US allies with tariffs.
According to Gallup, 20 out of 27 NATO nations gave America a double-digit boost in approval ratings. Portugal had the largest increase in views of the US. There were significant bumps in the Netherlands with 45%, Norway with 42%, and Canada with 42%. Lithuania was the only NATO nation where views of the US dropped.
According to the polling, Biden is succeeding in his goal of restoring America's role as a global leader after Trump, and was able to bring NATO together ahead of Russia's war in Ukraine.
Donald Trump caused controversy when he called NATO "obsolete" as a presidential candidate and he continued to criticize it throughout his presidency. It was feared that Trump would pull the US from the alliance altogether because of his fierce and unconventional criticism of NATO.
In recent months, particularly in relation to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Trump has sought to take credit for increased defense spending by NATO members.
NATO members increased defense spending before Trump took office. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in February that they had added 270 billion extra for defense.
All NATO members contribute to a modest direct budget. The US contribution to the budget fell from 22% to 16% under Trump, with Germany agreeing to pay the same amount. The NATO budget is separate from the agreement made by members to spend 2% of their GDP on defense. There is no penalty for not reaching this level of spending. NATO members hit this goal in 2021.
Trump's attacks on NATO undermined confidence in the alliance and divided members, aiding a key goal of Putin. Trump went out of his way to avoid criticism of the Russian leader, who he praised as a strong leader.
The world doesn't share Trump's admiration for Putin, who the former president recently praised as "genius" and "sophisticated" over the Russian leader's justifications for invading Ukraine.
Before Putin launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine, views of Russia were already bad. Moscow had a negative view of the world, but it was improving from a low of 22% in the previous year. As Western leaders seek to make Russia a pariah state, Gallup expects views of Russia to sink back to that level.
Russia's war has caused the worst refugee crisis in Europe since WWII, spread fears of global food shortages, and led to Russia being kicked out of global sporting bodies.
During George W. Bush's last days in office, the world soured on the Iraq War, and the dour views of Trump fit with that. It would mean the total loss of America's leadership position in the world if Trump were to return to power.
Biden has experienced a honeymoon with the world. The same time the US withdrew from Afghanistan, Gallup found that this started to slip.
Since Biden took office, this is the first global leadership survey to be completed completely. The firm began tracking global approval in 2007, asking citizens around the globe about their views of US, Chinese, German, and Russian leadership.
In 2007, Gallup began tracking its world leadership series, and it surveyed 116 countries and territories. The firm used phone and in-person interviews with people over the age of 15. The margin of error for results is between plus/ minus 2.8 and 5 percentage points.
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