NATO members’ approval ratings have shifted since Trump took office, new poll shows

Flags flap in the wind outside NATO headquarters in Brussels, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

A new poll paints a picture of NATO members souring on Washington’s image in the last year after U.S. President Donald Trump took office for a second time.

According to a Gallup poll released this month, the median approval across 31 countries dropped 14 percentage points to 21 per cent.

When it comes to support of U.S. leadership, the low numbers are similar to what the global analytics firm found during Trump’s first term, as well as between 2007 and 2008 when former U.S. president George Bush was in office.

Approval ratings for American leadership has varied notably for NATO member states, depending on the administration. When Barack Obama was in office, NATO’s median approval for the U.S. was 45 per cent.

However, that number fell to 22 per cent when Trump took office the first time, then climbed to 39 per cent under Joe Biden.

Germany is the NATO country where approval for U.S. leadership dipped most significantly in 2024, at -39 points, along with Portugal at -38 points. Approval fell for 16 other countries by a minimum of 10 points.

Canada’s approval rating towards U.S. leadership between 2024 and 2025 dipped -22 per cent, while it improved by eight per cent for China.

Meanwhile, Turkiye’s approval for U.S. leadership grew by 12 points, the only NATO country to do so.

NATO countries with higher leadership ratings

When it came to countries or region’s with higher leadership approval ratings than the U.S., the European Union and Germany took the lead. The EU’s leadership had a median of 60 per cent approval, which while high, was down from a record 65 per cent in 2023.

Germany’s leadership proved to be consistent to recent years, with a 54 per cent approval rating.

The U.S. and China are now on par with similar approval ratings amongst NATO countries, in line with Trump’s first term. The median approval rating for China’s leadership rose eight points in 2025 to 22 per cent.

While the Asian nation saw its largest single-year gain in approval among alliance members on record last year, it’s still not popular amongst NATO country residents, and hasn’t been for the past two decades.

The approval rating of the U.S. among NATO nations is now closer to Russia than the EU or Germany – though it’s still 10 points higher than Russia. That country had a medium approval of 10 per cent, particularly after its 2022 invasion in Ukraine, which is ongoing. That year saw a trend-low of six per cent.

Low approval for U.S. didn’t always translate to China too

While approval ratings for U.S. leadership has dipped, China saw some gains, with Spain, Italy and Belgium viewing them more favourably. China also had significantly higher ratings over the U.S. by at least 10 points in Slovenia, Luxembourg, Turkiye, Bulgaria, Spain, Montenegro, Iceland and Greece.

However, Poland, Albania and Romania’s approval rating for the U.S. were higher than China’s. The rest of the 20 members states gave the U.S. and China similar ratings.

Compared to 2020, which was Trump’s final year in office during his first term, the median-approval rating for the U.S. and China was 18 per cent.