China Surpasses the U.S. in Global Favorability as America’s Image Slides Across 25 Countries

For decades, the United States carried something more powerful than aircraft carriers, trade agreements or the world’s largest entertainment industry. It carried the benefit of the doubt.

Even when foreign audiences criticized Washington, many still saw America as the more democratic, dependable, and attractive alternative to its rivals. A new international survey suggests that the advantage is rapidly disappearing and China may be benefiting without having to win over the world completely.

A sweeping Pew Research Center poll found that people in 25 of 36 countries now view China more favorably than the United States. The findings are based on interviews with 42,151 adults conducted between February 8 and May 13, 2026. The United States received higher ratings than China in only six countries: India, Israel, Japan, the Philippines, Poland, and South Korea. That headline is startling. But the deeper story is even more important.

China has not suddenly become universally trusted, admired, or loved. In many places, opinions of Beijing remain mixed. Instead, China is moving ahead partly because America’s reputation is falling faster than China’s reputation needs to rise.

China’s Biggest Advantage May Be America’s Decline

Global influence is often described as a contest of military strength and economic size. Yet international leadership also depends on something less visible: whether people believe a powerful country is stable, reliable, and capable of considering the interests of others beyond its borders. The latest numbers suggest Washington is losing ground in all three areas.

Pew found that China’s new advantage is often driven by two movements happening at once: improving or steady views of China and worsening opinions of the United States. That pattern appears across parts of Europe, Latin America, and the Asia-Pacific region.

In other words, Beijing does not need to convince every country that China is the ideal global leader. It only needs to appear more predictable than Washington.

Canada’s Stunning Reversal Tells the Larger Story

The most revealing change may be happening next door to the United States.

In 2023, 57% of Canadians held a favorable view of the U.S., while only 14% viewed China positively. Three years later, the positions had reversed: 44% viewed China favorably, compared with just 33% for the United States. That is not a minor fluctuation involving a distant country with weak ties to America. Canada is a NATO member, a major trading partner and one of the United States’ closest security allies.

The decline becomes even more dramatic when Canadians are asked whether America is reliable. In 2022, 83% described the U.S. as a dependable partner. In the latest poll, that figure had collapsed to 35%.

For Washington, this should be more alarming than losing a conventional popularity contest. Alliances can remain intact on paper while public confidence underneath them quietly erodes.

A treaty may survive. The willingness to make sacrifices for that treaty may not.

Xi Jinping Does Not Need to Be Popular to Beat Trump

The leadership comparison reveals the same uncomfortable dynamic.

Confidence in President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping remains low across much of the world. In several European countries, neither leader earns the confidence of a majority of respondents. Yet Xi still leads Trump by double digits in Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

That does not amount to a global endorsement of Xi’s government. It shows that international politics can become a race to avoid being viewed as the more disruptive option.

China can benefit from projecting patience, consistency and economic opportunity, even when governments remain wary of Beijing’s political system or long-term ambitions.

America, by contrast, weakens its advantage whenever allies begin wondering whether agreements will survive the next threat, tariff dispute, or diplomatic confrontation.

Europe Is Starting to Call America a “Necessary Partner”

The shift extends beyond Pew’s favorability rankings.

A 2026 survey from the European Council on Foreign Relations found that only 11% of respondents across the countries studied considered the United States an ally. That was down from 22% in November 2024. Half described America instead as a “necessary partner,” while 25% viewed it as a rival or adversary.

The phrase “necessary partner” deserves attention. It suggests cooperation without affection, trust, or shared purpose. Countries may continue working with Washington because they need American weapons, intelligence, technology, or market access, not because they feel confident about American leadership.

That kind of relationship can endure, but it becomes increasingly transactional. Partners demand more guarantees. Governments prepare alternatives. Voters become less willing to follow Washington into expensive or risky international commitments.

America’s Peacekeeping Reputation Is Also Slipping

The damage is not limited to Trump’s personal approval ratings.

Across the 36 countries surveyed, a median of only 35% said the United States contributes to global peace and stability. Support for that view fell in 19 of the 22 countries where Pew had comparable data from 2023. Declines reached at least 30 percentage points in Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Poland, and Sweden.

Only 32% said the United States considers the interests of countries like theirs when making foreign-policy decisions. In Germany, that figure dropped from 60% in 2023 to 23% in 2026. Only 10% in France and 8% in Sweden said Washington considers other countries’ interests.

Those findings point toward a broader problem. People are not simply judging America’s power. They are questioning how that power is used.