Americans say Trump has huge influence over the world but not them
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Americans widely think the president has a significant impact on the country's global standing but relatively small effect on their personal lives, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.
The big picture: President Trump's trade war has made him a key player in the global economy, but the data reveal a clear disconnect in how Americans view the president's influence on national issues versus his effect on their day-to-day lives.
- Over three-quarters of respondents (78%) said who the president is makes a big difference on the U.S. standing in the world.
- The survey found that a majority of Americans think the president makes a big difference on the economy (68%) and national security (71%.) Meanwhile, only 30% of Americans think the president makes a big difference in their individual lives.
Flashback: Compared to 2023, the data splits along party lines. Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents are far more likely to now say the president makes a big difference for America's global standing versus then (83% vs 64%, respectively.)
Yes, but: People with strong political party ties were more likely to say who is president makes a big difference to them personally than those with less passionate political leanings.
Zoom out: An Ipsos poll from April found that America's position as a force for good fell in 26 of the 29 countries surveyed in the previous six-month period.
- Almost two in five countries said the U.S. will have a positive influence on world affairs, down from 59% who said the same prior to the 2024 presidential election.
The fine print: A total of 5,044 people responded to the survey out of the 5,742 people sampled, using data from Pew's nationally representative panel of randomly selected U.S. adults.
- The margin of error for the full sample of 5,044 respondents is +/- 1.6 percentage points.
