The Trust Collapse: The World Turns on Trump

Trump continues to declare victory after losing the war in Iran. He is playing out a modern version of The Emperor’s New Clothes, parading naked while boasting of fine garments. But in this real-life fable, more than one child see through the illusion, as over 70% of the global population has called his bluff.

The US Pew Research Center surveyed 42,000 people across 36 countries and regions between February and mid-May this year. The sweeping poll reveals a stark reality: 57% of respondents hold no favorable view of the US, and over 70% condemn the American attack on Iran.

A global poll across 36 nations reveals nearly 60% hold no favorable view of the US, and over half deem America untrustworthy. Canadians showed the sharpest spike in distrust, pictured here staging an anti-US demonstration.

This collapse in goodwill stems directly from Trump's knack for alienating people. A staggering 76% of respondents have "no confidence" in him, with many of those critics hailing from allied G7 nations. A recent commentary in Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao outlined four primary reasons for this massive erosion of global support. Chief among them is Trump’s own inferior character, a flaw that has dragged down America’s national standing on the world stage.

Donald Trump is the prime culprit behind America's crashing global support, with a staggering 76% of respondents branding him untrustworthy.

The survey captured a world reacting to Trump's frenzied military assault on Iran. Iran fiercely counterattacked by completely shutting down the Strait of Hormuz, choking off vital shipments of oil, natural gas, and petrochemicals. The disruption plunged numerous countries into crisis, leaving billions of people to suffer the bitter consequences.

Under these dire conditions, skyrocketing international distrust and resentment naturally turned the US into a universal pariah.

A Global Crisis of Confidence

Digging into the data reveals the sheer scale of the damage. Fully 57% of the over 40,000 respondents reported holding no favorable view of the United States. Citizens across Canada, France, Germany, and South Korea proved especially critical of American leadership. In these allied nations, the proportion of people maintaining a favorable opinion of the US plummeted to fresh lows.

America can now claim majority favorability in just 8 nations. Unsurprisingly, this small fraction includes ironclad partners like Israel and the Philippines, but they remain a tiny minority within the 36 countries surveyed. Consider the situation in Japan, a nation that prides itself on being a close US ally. The share of Japanese citizens holding a favorable view dropped by 5 percentage points from last year, barely scraping the 50% mark. This figure now mirrors the percentage holding an unfavorable view, signaling a steady erosion of Japanese fondness for America.

Public trust in Trump proved even more dismal, generating entirely one-sided results. A massive 76% of respondents expressed distrust in his handling of international affairs, compared to a mere 23% who still trust him. The reality is that over 70% of citizens in allied G7 nations now fundamentally distrust the US president. Labeling Trump as untrustworthy has hardened into a global consensus that bridges the divide between friends and foes alike.

This profound distrust in Trump has directly infected America's own credibility. The poll results highlight a significant decline in the number of Europeans, Canadians, and Japanese who still consider the US trustworthy. Canada experienced a particularly brutal collapse, plummeting from a robust 83% to a mere 35%. Japan similarly saw its trust in the US fall by a steep 17 percentage points.

Global public opinion is overwhelmingly clear on the prospect of an American war with Iran. The survey shows that a decisive 73% of respondents firmly disapprove of the US attacking the Middle Eastern nation. Furthermore, 63% concluded that the US has made absolutely no contribution to world peace and stability.

Four Pillars of Global Backlash

Why has the global public turned so fiercely against the US? The answer to Trump’s bankrupt credibility lies in four distinct failures. Peter Ong, Editorial Consultant for Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao, pointed out four major reasons driving this global backlash.

First, the US launching this war has inflicted immense suffering on people worldwide. Asia relies heavily on Middle Eastern oil and will become the hardest-hit disaster zone, pushing hundreds of millions toward poverty. If this economic catastrophe unfolds, Trump will stand as the primary culprit, ensuring the US remains widely despised.

Second, American leaders have actively committed war crimes. They flagrantly ignored both international human rights law and humanitarian law after initiating the conflict. The heinous act of firing missiles at an Iranian school, which tragically killed 170 teachers and students, stands as a horrifying testament to this brutality.

Third, America's circle of international friends has drastically shrunk, leaving Washington isolated on the global stage. This unnecessary war has forced European allies to suffer collectively alongside the US. Gulf countries have even drawn fire upon themselves, suffering destructive bombings and severe economic damage that bred intense resentment and frustration.

Fourth, Trump's deeply inferior personal qualities have systematically degraded America's national character. His defining traits of arrogance, capriciousness, loose lips, nepotism, and completely unprofessional decision-making have dragged the nation's reputation into the mud.

This analysis is spot on. America’s loss of global support is the direct, undeniable consequence of Trump's arrogant madness. Ironically, the very helmsman promising to "Make America Great Again" has become the nation's ultimate saboteur. Yet for China, this spectacular American failure has delivered an unexpected windfall, driving a noticeable surge in favorable views toward Beijing from global citizens.

Consider the shifting tides in Australia as a prime example. A recent poll shows that 51% of the Australian public now believes Sino-Australian relations hold more importance than US-Australian relations. This crucial metric has surged by 8 percentage points compared to just last year in 2025.

We got to thank Trump for this geopolitical gift.

Lai Ting-yiu

What Say You?

** 博客文章文責自負,不代表本公司立場 **

If attacking Iran were a business, the US just took a total bath. Military spending in the hundreds of billions. Piles of expensive missiles written off. Bases and equipment damaged.

And what did America get? Nothing. It's actually worse off than before the war. Iran now controls the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump, the businessman, is of course furious. And like any cornered CEO, he's looking for someone to blame. With midterm elections looming, he needs to distance himself from this debacle. Pinning the failure on his subordinates is pure self-preservation.

The Washington Post dropped a bombshell yesterday. At an internal meeting last week, Trump lit into Defense Secretary Hegseth, saying that he thought the ammunition shortage "had been fixed". Now he wanted answers. Why, as defense secretary, had Hegseth let him be misled?

Hegseth, feeling the heat, didn't hesitate. He pointed the finger straight at Deputy Defense Secretary Feinberg. Feinberg, he said, had failed to keep the president fully in the loop. This isn't the first time Trump has used Hegseth as

Trump threw a tantrum at an internal meeting, ripping into Defense Secretary Hegseth. His demand: explain why he was misled on the weapons shortage.

So what set Trump off? Just days earlier, he was beating the war drum, vowing even bigger airstrikes on Iran.

Then came the war council meeting. That's when the bombshell dropped. Patriot missile stockpiles? Nearly gone. Other air defense systems? Critically low. The situation was dire.

Had Iran hit back hard, US forces in the region would be sitting ducks. Trump, faced with that reality, called off the attack at the last second.

Think about that. He was making life-or-death military decisions, and he still believed the US had plenty of ammo. Unbelievable. But here's the rule in Trump's world: the boss is never wrong. He never admits a mistake.

The Washington Post describes the scene at Camp David. Trump threw a fit. He demanded Hegseth explain why he'd been kept in the dark. Why did he think the problem was solved? In Trump's mind, the fault was entirely on the other side.

Patriot missile stockpiles are nearly depleted after the Iran strikes. The situation is dire. Trump made military decisions blind to the facts, then blamed Hegseth.

Hegseth, fresh off a brutal dressing-down, went straight into survival mode. He deflected. Deputy Defense Secretary Feinberg, he argued, was the one responsible for the weapons shortage. Feinberg had failed to make sure the president knew the real state of the ammunition stockpiles. Classic Pentagon passing-the-buck.

A History of Scapegoating and Pentagon Chaos

The two clashed at the meeting, reports say. It exposed Trump's simmering frustration with Hegseth.

Inside Trump's team, Hegseth was the top war hawk. He pushed relentlessly for war with Iran. That faction dominated the early stages of the attack. The dovish Vice President Vance only gained influence later. So Hegseth owns a bigger share of the blame for the decision to go to war.

The truth is, this wasn't new. Months earlier, in late March, with the Iran war bogged down, Trump publicly dumped the blame for starting the war right on Hegseth.

At a press conference, Trump looked directly at Hegseth, sitting beside him, and spelled it out. "Pete, I think you were the first one to speak up and you said let’s do it because you can’t let them have a nuclear weapon," Hegseth looked embarrassed, unsure how to react.

Analysts saw it coming. Trump, watching the war turn ugly, was already lining up a fall guy. Hegseth was the prime candidate.

The Pentagon was a mess under Hegseth. Political chatter had it that Army Secretary Driscoll could take his job.

But where there's smoke, there's fire. Hegseth couldn't figure out what Trump really thought. He saw Driscoll as a threat. So he moved first. He axed Driscoll's right-hand man and pushed his ally, Army Chief of Staff George, into early retirement. A loyalist of his took the spot. The Pentagon has been a snake pit of infighting ever since.

The Washington Post story dropped. White House and Pentagon spokespeople immediately denied it. Nothing like that ever happened, they said.

But let's be real: anonymous insiders who leak to the media often paint a truer picture than the official line.

The Iran attack is sputtering. And the calls for accountability will only get louder. With his absolute refusal to look weak, Trump will pass the buck however he can. Hegseth won't be the only one thrown under the bus.

Lai Ting-yiu