Lowy Institute Polling shows only 21% of Australians trust US President Donald Trump to do the right thing, that's the guy with his finger on the button. Trust in America has not been this low since the days of the Vietnam War, and possibly ever. I have always believed Australia blindly kowtowing to America has been a huge mistake, it has led us into wars of aggression from Korea to the Middle East, this has resulted in 950 Australians killed in all sorts of senseless American wars since the big war of 1939-1945. It has also positioned Australia as a sycophantic toady of the US in the eyes of the majority of other nations, projecting us an aggressive country in our region, and not to be trusted, and not to be taken seriously.

Although much of this sycophantic Australian behaviour can be blamed on toady Conservative governments, starting with Menzies, I believe Labor governments, with exception of the Whitlam government, have been just as guilty as the boneheads of the Coalition. The Albanese government is no exception, with its blind faith in ANZUS, AUKUS and nuclear submarines, all of which should be ditched forthwith if Australia is going to its rightful place as a totally free and independent nation of the world.

It's not about America itself. It's about the government of America.

Officially, only 31% of Australians trust the American government. No big news there.

And, the last time I looked, the same number of Australians trusted their own government about as much.

Another big flop for anti-America hate speech.

I agree with ttbn. It is Trump that is the factor that explains declining support for the USA.

Why would Australia abandon a close relationship with the most important liberal democracy in the world, albeit currently ruining its reputation beyond historical criticism by some from the left.

Australians get most of their news about the US from our mass media. Our mass media just regurgitates the views of the US mass media which is almost uniformly psychotically anti-Trump.

An interesting phenomena is currently playing out in the US as World Cup visitors get to see the unfiltered truth about the US and X/Twitter is bulging with visitors (mainly European) expressing surprise at how different the real US is as compared to what they've been led to believe it is.

http://x.com/TONYxTWO/status/2068516485367009655
(one of literally thousands of examples)

mhaze,

The poll isn't measuring whether Australians think America is a pleasant place to visit. It's measuring whether they trust Trump to make good decisions as President.

A tourist arriving in the US and discovering that the streets aren't on fire doesn't tell us anything about whether Trump can be trusted on foreign policy, alliances, trade, Ukraine, NATO, tariffs, or democracy.

In fact, most Australians who distrust Trump would probably still tell you that America is a great country. The distinction is between America and its current government.

The Lowy result is therefore hardly surprising. Australians have been able to watch Trump's own words and actions directly for years. They don't need Australian media outlets to tell them what he said about tariffs, elections, NATO, or political opponents.

Your examples address perceptions of America as a place to visit. The poll addresses confidence in Trump as President. Those are two very different questions.

Did you read the poll. It was all over the place with little consistent thinking.

The attitude to Trump is based on the biased reportage of Australian MSM which just regurgitates US MSM's Trump derangement.

But when push comes to shove, Australians support the US having bases in the Australia (55%), "47% say Australia should remain close to the United States under President Donald Trump" and "63% say the United States would come to Australia’s defence if Australia were attacked."

Most Australians are in no position to judge the Trump presidency given the fractured news they receive. But when they get to see it first hand, its a very different story.

What most Australians fail to see, and we see it in spades on these pages, is that Trump is the president of the USA and his duties and concerns are only about the USA. Ever heard of "America First"?