Confidence in Trump sinks among Indians as unfavourable views of US hit record high

Confidence in the U.S. president among Indians has fallen to its lowest level in roughly 25 years, and unfavourable views of America have climbed to a record high, even as overall favourability dropped sharply, according to historical data from global opinion surveys conducted annually by the Pew Research Centre.

Pew’s recently released survey for 2026 shows only 45% of Indians hold a favourable view of the US while 31% have an unfavourable view of America, which is the highest negative rating over the last quarter century. Just 39% of Indians have confidence in president Donald Trump to do the right thing in world affairs – which marks the lowest confidence rating in a US president during that same time period. These numbers mark a sharp change from last year, when America’s favourability stood at 54% and unfavourability at 19% while confidence in Trump was at 52%, according to HT’s comparison of past data.

The current figures represent some of the lowest ratings America and its commander-in-chief have received from Indian respondents since Pew began tracking global public opinion on US favourability in 2002.

Trump’s closure of international aid bodies like the United States Agency for International Development (Usaid), his handling of the war in the Gaza Strip, and the Russia-Ukraine war received similarly low levels of support from Indian respondents.

The downturn marks a negative shift in Indian perceptions of America, reversing two decades of relatively stable, positive views. In 2005, two years after president George W Bush launched the globally unpopular Iraq war, America enjoyed a 71% favourability rating in India.

America’s favourability rating slid to 56% in 2006, with Indian confidence in Bush also at 56%. This was the highest confidence rating Bush recorded in any major nation surveyed that year. Despite his widespread national and international unpopularity at the end of his presidency in 2008 – when just 37% of Americans and 14% of Germans approved of him – 55% of Indians remained supportive.

Favourable views of America among Indians surged to a record 76% in 2009, the year Barack Obama assumed office. The 44th president also enjoyed some of the highest confidence ratings among Indians reached by a US leader with ratings of 77% in 2009 and 75% in 2015. Obama’s tenure saw occasional sharp drops in U.S. favourability ratings, such as in 2011 when the number dropped to 41%. However, this drop did not lead to a corresponding sharp increase in disapproval – which stayed low at just 10% – as seen in Trump’s second term. Instead, nearly half of Indian respondents did not express an opinion on the United States.

President Joe Biden retained the confidence of 64% of Indian respondents in Pew’s 2023 survey. That rating slid to 44% by the end of his presidency in 2024. A similar trend occurred with general US favourability, which fell from 65% in 2023 to 51% in 2024, although disapproval of the US also fell in favour of respondents not expressing a firm opinion.

The record-high disapproval ratings during Trump’s second term contrast with the trajectory of his first term. In 2017, six months into his first term, Trump held the confidence of 40% of Indians, while US favourability stood at 49% with significant numbers agnostic about the United States.

Trump subsequently gained significant support in India as his initial term progressed. By 2020, his confidence rating rose to 56% and US favourability climbed to 60%. This historical upward path stands in contrast to his second term, which began on a positive note but has turned significantly negative over time.

According to Pew, its annual surveys are conducted through a mix of telephone, face-to-face and online interviews and directed by three institutions, including noted polling firm Gallup. 3,566 Indians were interviewed face-to-face across the country in 13 languages for the 2026 survey.

Pew’s research offers a useful, if occasionally incomplete, historical baseline of Indian views. Data for certain years, such as 2018 and 2021, remains unavailable because fewer countries were included in those annual polling cycles.