US President Donald Trump wants to strengthen the right-wing populist movement in Europe, but new polls show that winning the sympathy of European voters may be much harder for him than he expects.
According to a new Politico poll , conducted in collaboration with the research firm Public First on a sample of more than 10,000 respondents in five countries, Trump is extremely unpopular across Europe, even among voters of the right-wing populist parties that his administration considers natural allies.
Trump is most popular in the United Kingdom, where half of voters close to the Reform UK party have a positive opinion of him. On the other hand, in France and Germany, only about a third of voters who support right-wing parties perceive Trump in a positive light.
The poll results come after the Trump administration unveiled a new national security strategy that openly talks about strengthening the influence of so-called “European patriotic parties.” Although such parties are seeing a surge in support in France, Germany and the United Kingdom, this trend has yet to translate into convincing electoral victories.
The poll also shows that Trump is even more unpopular among the general population. In France and Germany, two-thirds of respondents have a negative opinion of him, while in the United Kingdom the figure is 55 percent. Trump's worst ratings are in Canada, where 72 percent of respondents have a negative view.
Even among far-right voters, support is not unsparing. In France, more supporters of Marine Le Pen's National Rally have a negative than positive view of Trump, while in Germany, Alternative for Germany voters are almost divided on the issue.
Although supporters of right-wing populist parties share Trump's emphatic stance that political leaders should "put their country first," the survey warns of potential conflicts of interest. Specifically, many of them believe that Trump's policies benefit the United States but harm other countries at the same time.
The poll also shows that voters on the European right are more likely to protect domestic industry and accept trade measures, but that support for Trump has clear limits. Most French National Rally voters, for example, believe that US tariffs are harmful to the French economy, and almost half of them support responding in the same way.
Analysts conclude that there is ideological affinity between Trump's MAGA movement and the European right, but national interests and distrust of Trump remain a serious obstacle to a deeper political alliance.