I’ve seen Trump in person twice, long before he announced his run for President in 2015. The first time was in the Metrodome in Minneapolis during the 1992 Super Bowl. We were surrounded by a crowd, including his then-wife, Marla Maples. Marla was wearing a full-length fur coat in the 72-degree indoor stadium. Trump walked around the concourse a couple of times before heading to a skybox. It was about being seen, and presumably liked.

A couple of years later, I saw Trump again at the U.S. Open. Still surrounded by several employees and Marla Maples. Trump was a fixture at The Open, frequently photographed courtside, making sure he was part of the city’s social scene. BTW, I was working at both the Super Bowl and the U.S. Open because I didn’t roll like the people who had tickets to those events.

Trump liked being at big events, he hosted heavyweight boxing matches at Trump Plaza and attended major sporting events in New York. He bought the USFL's New Jersey Generals in 1983 and became the league's most visible and outspoken owner. In New Jersey, he literally owned star running back Herschel Walker. He still figuratively owns Walker, who is serving as the U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas, several blows to his head later.

Trump’s first term as president and the first year of his second term have proven that he needs adoration. Unfortunately, Donald has worn out his welcome and become the most unpopular man on the planet.

In America, there is constant polling to gauge the president's popularity. Recent results show Trump’s public standing sinking to some of the weakest levels of his presidency, with disapproval consistently outpacing approval by double‑digit margins. A YouGov/Economist survey reported a net approval of –23, with 58% disapproving of his performance and only 35% approving, marking a new low driven by erosion among his own 2024 voters. Meanwhile, The Economist’s tracking average places his approval at 37% and disapproval at 56%, reinforcing a sustained pattern of majority‑level unfavorability.

Around the world, the most commonly measured is U.S. leadership, which reflects Trump. A Gallup survey across 130+ countries found that U.S. leadership approval fell from 39% (2024) to 31% (2025). Disapproval rose to a record-high 48%, and this was all before Trump began the war nobody needed in Iran, causing rising prices across the globe. China’s leadership actually surpassed the U.S. in global approval (36% vs. 31%). The steepest declines were among U.S. allies — Germany (-39 points), Portugal (-38), and significant drops in the U.K., Italy, and Canada.

Even before the Iran war, Trump alienated America’s friends by imposing tariffs on the entire world. He recently stated Iran was blackmailing the whole world by shutting down oil flow through the Strait of Hormuz. He has no understanding that he blackmailed the world first.

Trump’s praise and support for Viktor Orban proved worthless as the tyrant lost his recent reelection bid by a margin too wide to rig. Pew’s 2025 global attitudes survey found that confidence in Trump was below 20% in major Western European democracies, including Germany (18%), Sweden (15%), and Spain (19%). Large majorities in these countries said they had little or no confidence in his leadership. You can guess how well Trump is thought of in Greenland and Denmark.

Mexico consistently reports some of the lowest numbers in the world. Only 8% expressed confidence in Trump’s leadership. More than 80% expressed little or no confidence. It probably had something to do with being referred to as murderers and rapists. This is one of the starkest gaps recorded in any country surveyed.

Trump is faring no better with our neighbor to the north. U.S. leadership approval in Canada fell sharply, with a majority in disapproval. This decline was directly tied to perceptions of Trump’s foreign policy. Canada typically rated U.S. leadership highly, making the drop notable.

In the U.K., Pew found that only 28% expressed confidence in Trump. A clear majority expressed little or no confidence. This represented a significant decline from pre‑2016 levels of trust in U.S. leadership.

I recently vacationed off the coast of Venezuela. As you can imagine, Trump wasn’t popular among fishermen, given his propensity for blowing up boats. I wonder how he’s polling in Africa, where his cuts to the USAID program will result in millions of deaths. A 2025 Lancet study estimated that the USAID health programs averted 91 million deaths worldwide between 2001 and 2021. I don’t know how many millions will die because those programs were eliminated.

Across continents and political systems, the polling converges on a single, measurable reality: Donald Trump is viewed more negatively around the world than almost any modern American leader. Pew Research Center’s 24‑country survey shows a median of 62 percent expressing little or no confidence in his leadership, with Western democracies registering some of the lowest numbers ever recorded for a U.S. president. In Germany, Sweden, Spain, France, and the Netherlands, confidence levels fall below 20 percent, a collapse that underscores how sharply global attitudes have shifted.

Gallup’s global leadership poll reinforces the same pattern. Approval of U.S. leadership has fallen to 31 percent worldwide, with disapproval reaching a record 48 percent across more than 130 countries. The steepest declines come from long‑standing allies, including Germany and Portugal, where approval dropped by dozens of points in a single year. In Mexico, confidence in Trump sits at 8 percent, one of the lowest figures recorded anywhere.

While the impact of tariffs is hidden, everyone filling up a gas tank around the world notices the increase, and they know who to blame: Donald Trump. Grocery shoppers have been informed that higher fertilizer prices have driven up food costs. Prices on everything that gets transported or grown will increase. Those who don’t yet hate Trump are well on their way.

This is probably not the attention he was seeking.