President Donald Trump is “making China great again,” according to the results of a new survey by the European Council on Foreign Relations.The survey of about 26,000 people found that most respondents in almost all 21 participating countries believed that China will have more global influence over the next decade. Meanwhile, opinions of the U.S. among its traditional allies and adversaries have shifted, while generally expectations of Trump have fallen a year into his presidency.[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]“A year on from Trump’s return, in countries across the globe, many people believe China is on the verge of becoming even more powerful,” the report said.The survey was conducted by ECFR and Oxford University’s Europe in a Changing World in November 2025, prior to the U.S. abduction of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January. The 21 countries that participated were Brazil, China, India, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Switzerland, Turkey, the U.K., Ukraine, the U.S., and 10 E.U. countries (Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain). The views of the E.U. countries were represented by a simple average of each country’s results.“Even before Trump’s dramatic intervention in Venezuela, his aggressive ‘America first’ approach was driving people closer to China,” the report said. “Paradoxically, his disavowal of the liberal international order may have given people licence to build stronger links to Beijing, since they no longer feel the need to fall in line with a US-led alliance system.”Growing Chinese influenceSouth Africa led the view of China as a global leader, with 83% of respondents believing that China will have more global influence over the next decade. That was followed by 72% in Brazil and 63% in Turkey. In the U.S., 54% of respondents held that view, as did an average 53% of respondents across the 10 E.U. countries surveyed. The U.K. had the fewest respondents who held that view, with just 50% believing China’s global influence will grow.But a substantial portion of respondents in each territory, including the U.K., the U.S. and the E.U., also held the view that China’s influence would not change over the next decade, because it already has global influence now.Respondents in several places attributed China’s rise to its technological and manufacturing power. Most respondents in China and the E.U. think that China will lead the world in the production of electric vehicles in a decade. That view, as well as the view that China will lead in renewable technology and renewable energy, has become more popular among E.U. and U.S. respondents over the past two years.Few people seemed concerned about China’s rise. Only in Ukraine and South Korea did a majority of respondents consider China as either a rival or an adversary. In fact, a growing number of people view China as an ally or a necessary strategic partner as compared to last year, according to the think tank.Even in the U.S., China’s geopolitical rival, 41% of respondents view China as a necessary partner. And in India, 47% of people see China as an ally or necessary partner. Relations between New Delhi and Beijing have historically been icy, but have warmed in the past year against the backdrop of trade tensions between the U.S. and India straining relations.Several places also expected their relationship with China to strengthen in the next five years, led by 71% of respondents in South Africa and 52% of respondents in Brazil.“China’s rise is seen as something that suits people living in most non-Western countries. Life without a hegemon is how most people appear to imagine the post-American world,” the report said. “From the perspective of much of the global public, the multipolar order is perfectly compatible with the world of ‘China First.’”That is in keeping with Beijing’s posture. China has sought to “work with other countries to ‘democratise international relations’ by giving non-Western countries more of a voice,” the think tank said. Beijing has been positioning itself as a diplomatic alternative to the U.S. and sought to contrast its economic partnerships and participation in multilateral institutions with the withdrawal of the U.S. under Trump from international forums and its use of trade measures and the threat—or use—of direct military intervention to advance its interests.“We are just 15 days into the year 2026, but the year already has seen black swans and grey rhinos one after the other. Instability and uncertainty are raging all around,” China’s U.S. envoy Xie Feng said in an address to the 1,000-member China General Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, in apparent reference to Trump. “Where will the world be heading? Humanity is facing a grave choice. Peace or war. Openness or isolation. Cooperation or confrontation.”While a survey published early last year by Singapore-based think tank ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute that suggested more Southeast Asians would choose the U.S. over China, the new survey suggests that many countries do not feel they have to choose between the two powers.“Our data suggest people around the world do not anticipate a bipolar, ideological struggle for primacy,” the report said. “On the contrary, with the US behaving like just another transactional great power under Trump—and China establishing itself as a giant of equal stature—people outside the traditional West seem to expect more room for their own countries to grow and thrive.”Still, some observers have raised concerns that Trump’s flouting of international norms could encourage Russia and China to more aggressively establish their own spheres of influence.Poorer views of TrumpAlthough China is seen as rising in global influence, people don’t generally see the U.S. disappearing, even if they don’t see its influence rising.In China, Russia, the U.K., Switzerland, Ukraine, the E.U., South Korea, and even the U.S., a minority of respondents think the U.S. will have more global influence over the next decade than it does today. Around a quarter of respondents in China, Russia, Ukraine, and the U.S. think the U.S. will decline in global influence.Most countries still see the U.S. as an ally or necessary partner, especially among traditional friends of the U.S., including 89% percent of South Koreans, 88% of Ukrainians, and 76% of Indians.But across the E.U., just 16% of respondents consider the U.S. an ally whereas 20% of respondents consider it a rival or adversary. In some E.U. member states, nearly 30% of respondents see the U.S. as a rival or adversary, according to the report.“This change may be down to Washington’s very public and at times brutal reappraisal of Europe, its politics and its culture,” the report said, “rather than any real deterioration in American power.”Last year, Trump imposed a series of broad tariffs on E.U. imports—including steep duties on steel, aluminum, automobiles, and other goods—as well as much of the rest of the world and leveraged trade relations with the U.S.—the world’s biggest economy—to secure deals more favorable to the U.S. Trump has also taken a volatile course in his approach to the war between Russia and Ukraine, at times publicly criticizing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and pausing U.S. military support for Kyiv last March, before reversing course.The survey results predate the Trump Administration’s renewed push in wanting control of Greenland, which is currently an autonomous territory in the Kingdom of Denmark.Read More: How Trump’s Foreign Policy Gambits Are Reshaping the WorldThe survey suggests that allies of the U.S. no longer see it as reliable. More Ukrainians think that their country’s relations with the E.U. will strengthen over the next five years than that with the U.S.On the other hand, more Russians consider the E.U. an adversary than the U.S. The Russian view of the U.S. as an adversary has fallen dramatically over the past two years, while its view of the U.S. as a necessary partner has risen.“America’s traditional enemies fear it less than they once did—while allies now worry about falling victim to a predatory U.S.,” the report said.Looking forward to the next five years, nearly a quarter of respondents in the E.U. and the U.K. see their relations with the U.S. weakening. That increases to 37% in Switzerland, 35% in China, 28% in South Africa, and 27% in Turkey. Even so, many people see their relations with the U.S. strengthening, led by India where 62% of respondents hold that view.A year into the second Trump Administration, most countries have lower expectations of Trump than they did a year ago. In the last survey conducted at the end of 2024, 84% of Indians saw Trump’s electoral victory as a good thing for their country. That has dropped to just 53% of Indians now.Last year, a survey by the Pew Research Center showed that an increasing number of respondents—particularly in Canada and Mexico—see the U.S. as both a top ally and a major threat. Both countries have not been exempt from Trump’s tariffs or threats of U.S. intervention, while countries around the world, especially in the Global South, have felt the effects of the Trump Administration slashing U.S. foreign aid.“A year ago Trump was a welcome figure in a Trumpian world: people outside Europe and South Korea held very positive expectations about his return. But this Trumpian moment already appears to be over,” the report said. “If there is a race for global popularity, America is currently losing to its Indo-Pacific rival.”