WASHINGTON, D.C. — Most Americans continue to hold positive opinions of Canada (80%) and Great Britain (76%), but views of both nations have dropped significantly in the past year and now are the lowest Gallup has measured for each. Since last year, positive ratings of Canada have fallen nine percentage points, while there has been an eight-point drop for Great Britain. Before this year, Canada and Great Britain averaged 91% and 88% favorable ratings, respectively.
These results are from Gallup’s annual World Affairs poll, conducted Feb. 2-16. The survey preceded the Feb. 28 U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran but came after the Jan. 3 removal of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from power by the U.S. and the Jan. 19-23 Davos conference attended by many world leaders.
The United States’ relationships with Great Britain and Canada have been strained this past year amid strong disputes over trade and tariffs, the NATO military alliance, and President Donald Trump’s remarks about making Canada the 51st U.S. state. The countries’ positions on the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, the Ukraine-Russia war and U.S. attempts to acquire Greenland have also been at odds.
Poorer Views of Allies Most Apparent Among Republicans
Amid these tensions, Republicans’ favorable rating of Canada has tumbled in the past year and independents’ is down slightly, while Democrats’ is essentially unchanged.
Canada’s favorable rating among Republicans has fallen 23 points, from 85% in 2025 to 62% now, far below any prior GOP rating of Canada.
Eighty percent of political independents view Canada favorably, down nine points from a year ago but similar to 2024 levels. (Both Republicans’ and independents’ opinions of Canada had improved in 2025 from 2024 before declining again this year.)
Currently, 95% of Democrats view Canada positively, similar to the 92% from last year. At least nine in 10 Democrats have rated Canada favorably since 2011.
Republicans’ opinions of Great Britain have also dropped steeply in the past year, from 84% to 64%, establishing a new low by 18 percentage points. Independents’ views have declined more steadily in recent years, and the current 72% rating for this group is also a new low.
Democrats’ opinions have also dipped modestly this year, from 93% to 89%, after increasing between 2024 and 2025. The current rating is mostly consistent with Democrats’ views of Great Britain over the past decade.
Japan, Italy Lead 2026 Country Ratings
The declines in opinions of Canada and Great Britain have knocked the two nations from their usual perch atop the list of country favorable ratings. One of those countries, along with Australia, had ranked first each time Gallup has asked Americans to rate other nations since 1989, including in annual measures since 2001.
This year, Japan (85%) and Italy (84%) have the highest country ratings measured. Canada still ranks near the top, tied with Denmark at 80%. Three-quarters of Americans view France, Great Britain and Germany positively, while Mexico, Ukraine, India and Egypt also get majority-positive ratings.
North Korea and Iran, with 13% favorable ratings, are rated least positively. Russia (17%) is the only other country of the 21 included in the poll with sub-20% favorability.
Japan’s favorability is among the highest Gallup has measured for it since 1989, along with an 87% rating in 2018 and 86% ratings in 2019 and 2025.
Gallup has only asked about Italy, this year’s Winter Olympics host nation, twice before, but its ratings were also highly positive in 2001 (78%) and 2003 (80%).
China's Image Improving in U.S.
In addition to the declines in ratings of Canada and Great Britain, and previously reported declines in Israel’s favorability and increases in the Palestinian Territories’ favorability, opinions of China have shown a notable change.
Thirty-four percent of Americans now have a favorable opinion of China, more than double what it was three years ago, when it dropped to a low of 15%. The last time opinions of China were more positive than now was in 2019, when 41% viewed it favorably.
Opinions of China have typically been more negative than positive since Gallup first asked about it in 1979. There have been a few instances when China was viewed favorably overall. This includes the record-high 72% rating in early 1989 that plummeted to 34% after the Tiananmen Square incident later that year.
Opinions of China this year are improved among all three party groups, with 42% of Democrats, 38% of independents and 18% of Republicans now having favorable impressions. Republicans’ opinions are slightly lower now than a year ago (23%) but remain up by more than 10 points from the 2023 low of 6%.
Democrats More Positive Toward Nearly All Countries
In addition to Great Britain, Canada and China, Democrats rate almost every other country more positively than Republicans do. The only exceptions among the 21 countries measured this year are Israel, Russia and Saudi Arabia, which are rated more positively by Republicans, and North Korea, which is rated similarly by both major parties. Israel, with a 69% favorable rating among Republicans and 33% among Democrats, is the only country rated positively by Republicans and negatively by Democrats.
Two other countries have larger party gaps than the 36 points separating Republicans’ and Democrats’ opinions of Israel — Mexico (41 points) and Ukraine (40 points). Those are the only countries rated positively by Democrats and negatively by Republicans.
Canada, Cuba, France and the Palestinian Territories also have gaps of 30 points or more between Democrats and Republicans.
Bottom Line
Over more than three decades of measuring Americans’ opinions of other nations, Gallup has found that these ratings often vary as relations between the countries grow warmer or frostier over foreign policy issues. Over the past 25 years, views of nations such as France, Russia, China and Cuba have shifted from positive to negative and back again depending on the countries’ similar or opposing policy responses to international events.
One constant has been Americans’ very positive views of Canada and Great Britain. While Americans remain positive toward those countries, their opinions have never been less positive than they are today, as the countries’ foreign policy goals and actions are testing the limits of the long-term friendships. These less positive views are especially prominent among Republicans, who are inclined to back the U.S. as it is being governed by a president from their own party. In contrast, Canada and Great Britain are now led by parties from the opposite end of the political spectrum, which has likely been a factor in their opposing some of Trump’s actions.
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