Kathrine Frich
A new survey of American voters has revealed sharp contrasts in how global leaders are viewed in the United States.
While some foreign heads of state earned positive ratings, others, including Donald Trump, received strongly negative scores.
Zelensky leads
According to a YouGov poll of 2,274 American adults conducted between January 22 and 26, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ranked first in overall popularity.
He received 22% “very favorable” and 20% “somewhat favorable” ratings, compared with 14% “very unfavorable” and 15% “somewhat unfavorable,” giving him a net favorability of +14%.
Another 29% said they did not know or had no opinion.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney followed with a net score of +6%, while Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum posted +5%.
Rounding out the top five were King Charles III and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, each with a net +3%.
Least appreciated
At the bottom of the ranking was North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, with a net rating of -73%.
Russian President Vladimir Putin followed closely at -72%, ahead of Nicolás Maduro (-53%), China’s Xi Jinping (-44%) and Iran’s Ali Khamenei (-29%).
The poll reflects continued strong disapproval among Americans toward leaders of countries seen as adversarial to the US.
Trump’s position
US President Donald Trump received a net rating of -16%.
According to the survey, 25% of respondents viewed him “very favorably” and 16% “somewhat favorably.” However, 48% said they viewed him “very unfavorably,” while 8% selected “somewhat unfavorable.” Four percent said they did not know.
His overall score placed him behind Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko in the ranking.
Sources: Digi24, TPWorld, YouGov
