European Voters View Trump’s Return as More Important Than Their Own National Elections

A new international poll reveals that voters in Germany, France, and the United Kingdom view President Donald Trump’s return to power as more significant for their countries than recent leadership changes at home. The findings underscore Trump’s outsize influence on global politics during his second term—particularly across Europe’s largest democracies.

In Germany, 53% of respondents said Trump’s election was more important for their country than the election of Chancellor Friedrich Merz, compared with 25% who stated the German vote mattered more. In the U.K., 54% indicated Trump’s return carried greater weight than Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s victory, which ended 14 years of conservative rule. French voters were slightly less decisive but still 43% said Trump’s win mattered more than President Emmanuel Macron’s election.

The results reflect widespread dissatisfaction among European voters with their own leaders’ handling of Trump. Only 24% of Germans said Chancellor Merz had done a good job managing relations with Trump, while 34% claimed he handled the relationship poorly. In France, Macron fared worse, with just 16% approving his approach and 39% disapproving. Starmer received mixed marks in the U.K., with equal shares saying he did well or badly.

European Union leadership scored lowest overall. In France, only 11% of respondents believed Brussels handled Trump effectively, while nearly half said the EU had done a poor job. Trump’s blunt criticism of European leaders appears to resonate widely abroad, as described in his recent interview where he labeled them “weak.” Respondents overwhelmingly rated Trump as more “strong and decisive” than their national leaders.

By margins of roughly 3-to-1, voters in Germany, France, and the U.K. said Trump demonstrated greater strength and decisiveness than their national leaders. Canada stood out as an exception, with 60% of respondents saying Prime Minister Mark Carney was stronger and more decisive than Trump, while 40% favored Trump.

The poll also found that while voters value honesty and transparency above all else, strength and decisiveness remain areas where European leaders are seen as falling short. Many respondents expressed a desire for their leaders to stand up to Trump in principle but preferred cooperation over confrontation when discussing their own national leaders.

The survey of 10,510 adults conducted from December 5 to 9 found at least 2,000 respondents in the United States, Canada, the U.K., France, and Germany. Results for each country have an overall margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.