At Time in an article about the boos and jeers that Vice President J. D. Vance received at the Olympics opening ceremonies Rebecca Schneid writes:
A new YouGov poll released Feb. 6 found that favorable views of the U.S. among Western European nations have fallen sharply since Trump’s return to office, following the President’s aggressive attempts to annex Greenland, his Administration’s ongoing trade war with most of its European allies, and a years-long divide over the future of NATO and European security.
Perhaps predictably, the biggest impact was seen in Denmark. Some 84% of Danes now hold an unfavourable view of the U.S., compared with an average of 36% during former President Joe Biden’s term. Only 26% of Danes view the U.S. as an ally or friendly nation, compared with 80% in July 2023.
The same trend is seen across Western Europe, in countries that were once considered U.S. allies. In Spain, only 39% of people see the U.S. as a friend or ally today, down from 73% in 2023. In Germany, the number is 41%, down from 70%; in Britain, 46%, down from 69%; in France, 53%, down from 64%; and in Italy, 52%, down from 61%.
I have travelled in Europe for more than fifty years, mostly for work. I have never experienced a time when Americans were liked or admired. I have never understood why so many Americans assumed that was the case. I don’t even think I know any American who has lived abroad who thought people overseas liked or admired Americans.
This isn’t new. The play that Abraham Lincoln attended that fateful night at Ford’s Theater was Our American Cousin, a satire of the disdain that Americans experienced abroad.
Even after World War II, gratitude did not translate into affection. The British, French, and Dutch were relieved that the war had ended but there is extensive contemporary and postwar commentary expressing disdain for American soldiers, particularly among elites, for their informality, their money, their lack of deference to class, and their cultural self-confidence.
Americans were welcomed as liberators and resented as disruptors. That tension is not new, and it did not begin with Vietnam, Iraq, or Donald Trump. Donald Trump has aggravated a situation that was already bad. It has been present since the moment the United States first arrived in Europe as a decisive power.
