Do the world trusts trump administration more or Xi's chinese government more?
According to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in spring 2025 across 24 countries, the median share of adults expressing confidence in U.S. President Donald Trump to do the right thing in world affairs is 34%, compared to 25% for Chinese President Xi Jinping. However, in a subset of 10 high-income countries that Pew has tracked annually since 2017, the median confidence stands at 22% for Trump and 24% for Xi, reflecting a slight edge for the Chinese leader in those nations. Trends from mid-2025 indicate views of the U.S. and Trump have worsened in many surveyed countries, while opinions of China and Xi have improved, narrowing or even reversing the gap in some contexts.
Country-level breakdowns show variation: Confidence in Trump exceeds that in Xi in places like Israel (69% vs. 9%), Japan, South Korea, India, Hungary, Poland, Brazil, and Nigeria, while Xi leads in countries such as Mexico (36% vs. 8%) and Indonesia. No significant difference exists in several others, including Canada. Overall, neither the Trump administration nor Xi's government commands strong global trust—majorities in most countries lack confidence in both leaders on international matters—but the data suggests a slight global advantage for Trump in broader samples, though this has been eroding amid shifting geopolitical perceptions.
