Trump Says the US Is Respected Again and 'Everyone Stands Up' but Global Survey Finds Little Confidence

President Donald Trump claimed on 2 September 2026 that America is 'respected again' and that 'everyone stands up' when he goes to meetings, yet a new Pew Research Center survey across 36 countries found a median 23% confidence in him 'to do the right thing regarding world affairs'.

Trump made the remarks at a dinner with Republican lawmakers in the White House Rose Garden. 'I go to meetings and everyone stands up,' he said, adding that officials had not shown the same respect to 'our last president' and had 'laughed at him'. He later said: 'But our country is respected again.'

Pew asked adults about their confidence in Trump 'to do the right thing regarding world affairs', not whether foreign leaders stand when he enters a room. The 23% figure measures public opinion, not diplomatic protocol.

Pew interviewed 42,151 adults between 8 February and 13 May 2026 and published its findings on 23 June 2026. Most of the interviews took place after the US–Israel conflict with Iran began in late February. Pew noted that views of the US became more negative as the conflict continued.

Confidence Ranged From 68% to Single Digits

The 23% median masks a wide spread between the places surveyed. Confidence in Trump was highest in the Philippines at 68%, followed by Israel at 66%, Nigeria at 65% and Kenya at 63%.

At the other end, confidence was 6% in Turkey and 4% in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, according to Pew. Sweden and Mexico were also among the lowest, at 11% each. Views differed sharply by place, so the median is not a single global score.

Where Pew could make a year-on-year comparison, confidence fell in 16 of the 24 places with comparable data and did not rise in any of them.

How the US Itself Was Seen

Pew found a median 37% favourable view of the US across the 36 surveyed places, compared with 57% who viewed the country unfavourably. In Canada, 83% said the US was a reliable partner in 2022. That share was 35% in the 2026 survey.

The earlier figure came during Biden's presidency, making the comparison a longer-term measure of perceptions of Washington rather than a one-year Trump-to-Trump shift. The decline was also recorded elsewhere. In Germany, the share calling the US a reliable partner fell from 83% in 2022 to 39% in 2026. In Sweden, it fell from 83% to 31%.

Across the 36 surveyed places, a median 35% said the US contributes to peace and stability around the world, while a median 32% said the US takes the interests of countries like theirs into account when making foreign policy decisions.

Americans Saw a Different Picture

The US results were more positive than the international median on the country's role in the world. Among 3,507 US adults surveyed from 23 to 29 March 2026, 57% said the US contributes to peace and stability around the world.

That compares with the 35% median across the 36 places surveyed. A similar gap appeared on other questions too, with Americans generally rating their country's global impact more favourably than many of the foreign publics Pew surveyed.

Trump described what he said he was seeing in meetings with foreign leaders. Pew's latest broad international measure instead captured what the public said months earlier, with confidence in his leadership of world affairs at a median of 23%.