Japan Survey Finds Only 22% of Respondents Trust U.S.; Significant Drop From Joint Poll After Election
A nationwide poll by The Yomiuri Shimbun found that only 22% of respondents 'trust' the United States, with 3% answering 'greatly' and 19% saying 'somewhat.'
The number of respondents who trust the United States was down 12 points from 34% in a joint survey conducted by The Yomiuri Shimbun and the U.S. polling firm Gallup, Inc. last November, immediately after U.S. President Donald Trump won the election.
Asked how much they trusted the United States, 46% of respondents to the Yomiuri poll said 'not very much' and 22% said 'not at all,' for a total of 68%. This compares to 55% in last year's Japan-U.S. survey.
Figures from the joint Japan-U.S. surveys can be compared from the year 2000 on. Since that time, the lowest percentage of respondents who said they trusted the United States in the Yomiuri-Gallup survey was 30%, a figure seen under the first Trump administration in 2018.
Then as well, Trump was strongly pushing for a rectification of the U.S. trade deficit with Japan, including in automobiles.
The fact that the percentage of respondents who trust the United States fell below that level in the latest Yomiuri poll stems not only from the Trump administration's high tariff policy, but also Trump's remarks and actions regarding the situation in the Middle East and Russia's aggression against Ukraine.
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