37 percent say Biden is respected by world leaders: Gallup

Just over a third of Americans, 37 percent, say in a Gallup survey released Monday President Biden is respected by world leaders.

Fifty-eight percent said he is not respected, and 5 percent said they have no opinion.

Broken down by political affiliation, 74 percent of Democrats said Biden is respected, as did 3 percent of Republicans and 34 percent of independents.

The findings of the poll, conducted from Feb. 1-20, mirror those from a similar survey one year ago, when 37 percent said in February, 2023 that Biden was respected by world leaders.

By comparison, 58 percent in February 2021 said that Biden was respected. The following year, just 40 percent of respondents agreed.

While the latest polling on Biden’s standing on the world stage marks the lowest of his presidency, it equals former President Trump’s highest performance throughout his four years in office.

By February, 2020, one month before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the U.S. economy, 37 percent said Trump was respected by world leaders – the highest level of his presidency.

In the most recent survey, fewer Americans -- 42 percent -- say the United States rates very or somewhat favorably in the eyes of the world, the lowest since February, 2017. In the first three years of Biden’s presidency, the share of those who said the U.S. rated favorably stayed about even at 49 percent, 48 percent and 49 percent, respectively.

Additionally, in the first three years of Biden’s presidency, the share of Americans who said that they were satisfied with the U.S. position in the world remained steady at 37 percent. In February, 2024, that level dropped to 33 percent.

This slight souring on the U.S.’s role on the global stage comes as some Democrats have expressed dissatisfaction with the U.S.’s support for Israel in the war in Gaza.

Generally, the way respondents answer questions about the U.S. role on the global stage reflects a significant partisan divide, with Republicans rating their party’s presidents more favorably than Democrats, and vice versa.

During the first four years of Biden's presidency, an average of 56 percent of Democrats said they were satisfied with the U.S. position in the world, compared to 12 percent of Republicans and 37 percent of independents. Similarly, an average of 76 percent of Democrats said Biden was respected by world leaders, compared with only 9 percent of Republicans, and 42 percent of Independents.

Trump, on the other hand, had reverse numbers for his presidency. On average, 71 percent of Republicans were satisfied with the U.S. position in the world, compared to only 18 percent of Democrats and 18 percent of independents. On average, 65 percent of Republicans said Trump was respected by world leaders, compared to only 5 percent of Democrats and 25 percent of independents.

The new survey, conducted through telephone interviews with 1,016 U.S. adults, has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.