Other world powers more upbeat on Trump than Europe, poll finds

BRUSSELS (AFP) — While citizens in Europe are fretting over the return of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, their counterparts in other global powers seem more positive about his second term, a poll said Wednesday.

From India and China to Brazil and Turkey, more respondents than not said they expect Trump to be good for their countries and “peace in the world,” the survey from the European Council on Foreign Relations said.

The upbeat mood was particularly marked in the world’s most populous nation India, where over 80% of participants gave Trump’s comeback the thumbs up.

In comparison, the reception is far less welcoming in the 11 EU countries polled, where more respondents expect him to be bad for Europe and global peace.

“When Donald Trump returns to the White House, much of the world will welcome him,” wrote the authors of the poll, carried out jointly with Oxford University’s Europe in a Changing World research project. “In Europe, anxiety is widespread, but people in many other countries feel either relaxed or actively positive about Trump’s second term.”

The survey involved just over 28,500 people across 24 countries, and was conducted in November last year after Trump’s election victory.

Outside the EU, those living in long-standing U.S. allies Britain and South Korea both had among the most negative perceptions of Trump’s arrival.

Trump — who will be sworn into office on Monday — has pledged to bring a swift end to the war in Ukraine three years after Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Despite fears the incoming U.S. leader could force Kyiv into a bad deal, 33% of those surveyed in Ukraine thought Trump’s election was good for world peace, compared with 18% who said it was bad.

The positivity about Trump outside Europe comes despite his threats to impose sweeping tariffs on imports into his country that could roil the global economy.

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By Agence France-Presse