Findings from the latest Economist/YouGov poll about:
- How much respect Americans think people around the world have for Donald Trump
- How fair or unfair Americans consider their country's major trade relationships
- Which groups of Americans want to see Pope Leo XIV influence U.S. affairs
- Whether support for missions to the moon and Mars is rising or falling
International relations
- Americans are more likely to think that the country's standing in the world has worsened than improved (48% vs. 30%) since Donald Trump became president in January
- Slightly more say that since Trump took office, the country is less safe from terrorism than say it is safer (33% vs. 29%)
- Few Americans (13%) think Trump has a great deal of respect for leaders of other countries, and similar shares say the same about how much other world leaders respect Trump (17% say a great deal) and how much people in other countries do (11%)
- By a margin of 56% to 24%, Americans are more likely to say the U.S. should take an active part in world affairs rather than to say the country should stay out of them. Democrats are more likely than Republicans to prefer an active role for the U.S. (68% vs. 51%)
- And most people don't want the U.S. to act alone: A majority of Americans (72%) think it's better for us to compromise with our allies in order to find collective solutions to international problems than to work alone to find solutions, while only 10% say it's better to work alone
- Majorities of Democrats (83%) and Republicans (63%) prefer compromising with allies to working alone
- 49% of Americans think the U.S. has a special responsibility to provide humanitarian assistance when people in other countries need help, while 31% say it does not have that responsibility
- 46% think the U.S. has a responsibility to give military assistance in trouble spots around the world when it is asked to by its allies; 30% say it doesn't
- More Americans say that compared to five years ago, there is now a greater chance of a world war than say there is a lesser chance (44% vs. 13%); 30% say there is about the same chance
- More also say that compared to five years ago, the chances of a nuclear war have increased rather than decreased (36% vs. 14%); 34% say they have stayed about the same
- Many think it's likely that conflicts between Russia and Ukraine, Israel and Palestine, and India and Pakistan will each lead to a wider war involving other countries, and some believe they have already led to wider wars
- Majorities of Americans are not keen on the U.S. using military force to take control of places that Trump has proposed seeking ownership of: 77% oppose a military takeover of Canada, 69% oppose one of Greenland, and 57% oppose one of the Panama Canal; 23% or fewer support each possible military venture
- More than 70% of Democrats oppose the U.S. military taking over each of these places. Republicans are more likely to oppose than support a military takeover of Canada and Greenland, but are divided on the Panama Canal: 41% are in favor and 39% are opposed
Tariffs
- Americans are divided on whether Trump has a clear plan for U.S. trade policy; slightly more say he doesn't than does (45% vs. 39%)
- Opinion is also split on whether Trump's tariffs will remain in place: 22% think all or most of the tariffs will remain, 20% say about half will, and 37% say a few or none of them will
- Republicans are twice as likely as Democrats to believe all or most of Trump's tariffs will remain (31% vs. 16%)
- Three-quarters (74%) of Americans think that Trump's tariffs will increase prices they pay for things: 44% think they will increase prices a lot and 30% think they will a little
- Majorities of Americans believe that recent tariffs will hurt their own financial wellbeing (53%), the U.S. economy (53%), and the economies of other countries (57%). Half (50%) say the tariffs will hurt U.S. global standing. 30% or less say the tariffs will help each of these
- Roughly equal shares of Americans say tariffs will help and hurt U.S. manufacturing (38% vs. 37%)
- In a trade war against the rest of the world, more Americans think the U.S. would lose than win (40% vs. 32%), and more think the U.S. would be hurt most than say the rest of the world would be (41% vs. 32%)
- Many Americans aren't sure whether trade relationships between the U.S. and certain other countries are fair or unfair
- Of 10 countries asked about in the poll, nine are either more likely or equally likely to be seen by Americans as having a mostly fair trade relationship with the U.S. than to be seen as having a mostly unfair one. China is the exception. The United Kingdom, Australia, and Germany are especially likely to be seen as having a fair trade relationship with the U.S.
- Half (50%) of Americans say U.S. trade with China is mostly unfair, compared to 23% who say it is mostly fair
- Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say that trade relationships with each of the 10 countries are fair, though only by small margins
Pope Leo XIV
- Newly elected Pope Leo XIV is beginning his papacy fairly well liked by Americans: 47% of U.S. adult citizens view him very or somewhat favorably and 12% very or somewhat unfavorably, for a net favorability of +35; 41% of Americans don't know what they think of him
- This makes Leo slightly less popular among Americans than his predecessor, Pope Francis: 57% view Francis favorably, 18% view him unfavorably — a net favorability of +39; 24% don't know
- Catholics unsurprisingly have warmer views of each pope (Leo +56, Francis +57) than do non-Catholics (Leo +29, Francis +33); Democrats view Leo (+55) and especially Francis (+76) more positively than do Republicans (Leo +26, Francis +12)
- 43% of Americans don't know how they would classify Leo on a liberal-to-conservative spectrum; 26% say Leo is a moderate, 16% say that he's liberal or very liberal, and 12% say that he's conservative or very conservative
- There is slightly more lean in Americans' perceptions of Francis's ideology: 24% say he was a moderate, while 29% say he was a liberal, 11% say that he was a conservative, and 33% aren't sure
- Leo is the first American pope, but only 8% of Americans expect Leo to have a great deal of influence on domestic affairs in the U.S. 47% expect Leo to have some influence and 23% expect him to have no influence
- Catholics are more likely to expect Leo to have at least some influence than are non-Catholics (70% vs. 50%)
- More Democrats than Republicans expect Leo to have at least some influence (63% vs. 51%)
- More Americans say it's inappropriate for a pope to influence U.S. domestic affairs than say it's appropriate (41% vs. 29%)
- But Americans who expect Leo to wield a great deal of influence on the U.S. are more likely to say that influence is appropriate (57% vs. 22%), as are those who expect Leo to wield some influence (41% vs. 33%). Those who expect Leo to wield no influence overwhelmingly disapprove of papal influence on U.S. affairs (17% appropriate vs. 68% inappropriate)
- Support for papal influence on U.S. affairs may reflect Americans looking for a counterweight to Trump: Americans who disapprove of Trump's handling of the presidency are more likely to say papal influence is appropriate (41% appropriate vs. 29% inappropriate), while Americans who approve of Trump are more likely to say it's inappropriate (17% appropriate vs. 56% inappropriate)
Space exploration
- 54% of Americans say the U.S. should send astronauts to the moon, while 15% say the U.S. shouldn't
- 48% favor and 21% oppose the U.S. sending astronauts to Mars
- Support for sending astronauts to both space bodies has fallen considerably since the Economist / YouGov Poll asked these same questions in April 2023
- At that time, 64% favored the U.S. sending astronauts to the moon, and 56% favored sending astronauts to Mars
- Support for humans landing on the moon and Mars is down since 2023 among Americans in all major age groups and both major political parties. For example, in 2023, 65% of Democrats supported the U.S. sending astronauts to the moon, while today 51% of Democrats do
- Besides Democrats, support for a new U.S. moon landing is also down a lot among 45- to 64-year-olds (62% to 49%) and Americans 65 and older (64% to 50%)
- 49% of Americans say it is very or somewhat likely that the U.S. will land people on Mars by 2040, while 28% say it's either not likely or not very likely, and 22% aren't sure
- Among Americans who favor the U.S. sending astronauts to Mars, 67% say it's likely this happens by 2040, while among Americans who oppose such a mission, just 32% say it's likely
- 23% of Americans say space exploration should primarily be the responsibility of national governments, while 8% say private companies should take the lead. 45% say the government and private companies should share responsibility equally; 5% say neither should and 18% aren't sure
— Carl Bialik contributed to this article
Throughout this report, some numbers may appear to be off by 1 because of rounding
See the toplines and crosstabs for the May 9 - 12, 2025 Economist/YouGov Poll
Methodology: The poll was conducted among 1,786 U.S. adult citizens. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of U.S. adult citizens. A random sample (stratified by gender, age, race, education, geographic region, and voter registration) was selected from the 2019 American Community Survey. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 32% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 3.5%.
Image: Getty (Chip Somodevilla / Staff)
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