Trump humiliated as China seen as less of a threat than US in 6 EU countries

Residents in six European Union countries view the US more as a threat than an ally under Donald Trump’s presidency, a new poll has revealed. Since returning to power in January 2025, the US President has threatened to pull his country out of NATO, threatened to annex Greenland and Canada, hit allies with tariffs and launched a war with Iran that Europe refused to join.

This appears to have taken its toll on voters in Poland, Spain, Belgium, France, Germany and Italy, with a new survey by Brussels-based news site Politico revealing that only 12% of those polled saw America as a close ally, while 36% saw it as a threat. By contrast, China was seen as a threat by only 29% of those polled across the six EU nations. At the national level, the threat from Washington outranked that from Beijing in four countries, with only respondents in France and Poland perceiving the threat from China as higher.

Russia was widely seen as an obvious enemy, with 70% of respondents identifying it as a threat.

Spanish respondents were the most negative towards the US, with 51% saying Washington posed a risk to Europe, the highest proportion among those surveyed. Madrid has taken a lead role in opposing Mr Trump’s war in Iran, who, in return, criticised the southern EU nation’s low defence spending.

On Wednesday, Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez said: “The Government of Spain will not applaud those who set the world on fire just because they show up with a bucket.”

In Italy, 46% considered the US a threat, 42% in Belgium, 37% in France and 30% in Germany. Poland – which shares a border with Russia and sees its alliance with the US as a key security guarantee – was the exception, with only 13% stating that the US posed a risk.

Across the six countries, over three-quarters of respondents said they would support sending their country’s military to defend a NATO ally if attacked.

Additionally, while in every country polled, backing for military assistance outweighed opposition, just 19% said they would be willing “take up arms and fight” if their own country were attacked. Another 12% said they would consider leaving the country.

The European Pulse poll, conducted by Cluster17 for Politico and beBartlet, included 6,698 Europeans adults in Spain, Germany, France, Italy, Poland and Belgium. It was carried out between March 31 and 21. Results for each country were weighted to be representative of factors including age, gender and geography.