The U.S. Just Hit Its Highest-Ever Best Countries Ranking. Would It Last Under Trump?

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

67% : (China, notably, jumped four spots in the Best Countries rankings year over year, to No. 16.)
63% : In the inaugural edition of the project in 2016, around the end of former President Barack Obama's time in office, the U.S. landed at No. 4.
56% : The ninth edition of the annual project from U.S. News shows the United States this year reaching its highest mark ever, at No. 3, even as a significant share of survey respondents in the analysis appear particularly cynical about the Republican candidate who could become the nation's next commander in chief.
53% : "In survey results published in June - still prior to Biden dropping out of the race - Pew found that a median of just 28% of respondents across 34 countries had confidence in Trump to do the right thing regarding world affairs, while a median of 43% had confidence in Biden.
50% : Whether a return to the White House for Trump would coincide with the U.S. sliding back down in the Best Countries rankings in 2025 is impossible to predict.
44% : "If you look back to how people viewed Trump when he was in the White House, if he were to win and follow some of the same policies that he followed last time, certainly you think people would have real reservations about his approach to foreign policy around the world," he says.
42% : "The Biden administration came in saying that they were going to basically try to go back to the way things were before Trump and the Trump administration, which most of the world (at) that period of time saw as kind of a disruption to the way things had been really for decades prior," says Derek Grossman, a senior defense analyst at the nonprofit Rand Corp., who stresses that his organization doesn't take political positions.
39% : At the same time, between Biden and Trump, only Trump is now seeking a return to the White House in 2025.
34% : Conversely, among U.S. respondents alone, 52% saw Trump having a positive impact, compared with a 35% negative share.
34% : Wike says Trump has received low ratings for his "personal leadership characteristics" in previous international polling by Pew, with some respondents describing him as "dangerous" and "arrogant," and many saying he wasn't "well-qualified to be president."

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