With Donald Trump increasingly hostile towards Europe, how do Britons think we and our continental peers should react?
Key takeaways
- 35% of Britons see US as unfriendly or hostile to Europe
- Attitudes to US are most negative since YouGov began tracking in 2016
- 64% think peace and stability in Europe is reliant on US – 49% say same of economic prosperity
- While most think US-Europe relations breakdown would have negative impact on peace, stability and economy, Britons tend to think it would not affect their own finances
- 30% of Britons think the priority in Europe-US relations should be preserving the transatlantic alliance, 44% say it should be prioritising European policy autonomy and values
- By 50% to 25%, Britons think US foreign policy will go back to how it was before once Trump is no longer president
- Britons willing to do more on defence and Ukraine to maintain good relations with US, but not on trade or freedom of speech
With Donald Trump ratcheting up his demands for the territory of Greenland – including saying that he will not rule out using the military in order to acquire it – relations between the US and Europe are at an all-time low.
Military action on the part of the US against Greenland would surely bring about an end to NATO, and with it the broader alliance between Europe and America. Recent events raise hard questions about the future of the transatlantic relationship, and what role Europe wants to play in the world.
With this in mind, a new YouGov survey looks at how Britons see the state of the Europe-US relationship, whether preserving it should be a priority, and what impact its ending would have.
UK attitudes towards the US
With Donald Trump having employed increasingly combative rhetoric and actions towards Europe in his second presidential term, the results of this survey show that a third of Britons now see the US as either unfriendly towards Europe (21%) or actively a hostile threat towards the continent (14%).
This is the most negative sentiment has been in the nine years we have tracked this question, with the previous high being 23% unfriendly/hostile in the early days of the Biden administration (a figure which dropped significantly thereafter).
At present, only 46% of Britons see the US as a friend and ally or a friendly rival to Europe – that figure had stood at 69% in 2023, our most recent poll prior to this one.
Likewise, favourability towards the USA stands at just 30%, again, the lowest we have recorded since tracking began in late 2016, with fully 64% of Britons now having a negative view of the nation.
Donald Trump himself is even less popular in the UK, with a mere 16% of Britons holding a favourable view of the US president, compared to 81% with an unfavourable view.
These figures stand in marked contrast to the 56% of Britons who have a favourable opinion of the European Union.
For what it’s worth, many Britons don’t think Donald Trump likes us on this side of the Atlantic either. While 38% believe he considers Europe as either a friend and ally, or at least a friendly rival to the US, an equal 38% think he sees the continent as either unfriendly or even a hostile threat to America.
How do Britons see Europe in relation to the USA? And what do they think the impact of a breakdown in transatlantic relations would be?
Donald Trump and his administration have made numerous criticisms of Europe. The US president has consistently criticised Europe for its failure to spend enough on its own defence and reluctance to take action on the world stage, as well has having been unfair in its trade dealings with the US.
Newer criticisms from the Trump administration also include JD Vance and others condemning Europe's approach to free speech, alongside assertions from the US National Security Strategy that high migration is risking "civilizational erasure” on the continent.
Much as they might dislike Donald Trump, Britons do think the president might be on to something in some of these cases. Most Britons agree that Europe has been too reliant on the US for defence (59%), has allowed too much immigration (55%), and 50% believe Europe has been too indecisive and unwilling to act on the world stage (only 19% take the opposite view).
However, they tend to disagree with Donald Trump’s assertion that Europe has been unfair in its dealings with the USA – only 11% think it has, while 42% think it has not.
And similarly, 41% disagree that Europe has been too restrictive when it comes to free speech, with 27% thinking that this is a correct assessment.
While there is increasingly speculation that Europe might have powerful means of economic retaliation against the USA, should it wish to pursue that option, the results of our survey show that Britons see the US as stronger than Europe in military (75%), economic (59%) and diplomatic terms (56%).
Indeed, Britons say that both European peace and defence (64%) and economic prosperity (49%) are reliant on Europe’s good relations with the USA.
They foresee, therefore, that a breakdown in relations between the USA would have a negative impact on peace and stability in Europe, and the continent’s ability to defend itself, as well as damaging both the UK and the wider European economy.
Despite this, far fewer seem to think such a tectonic shift in the global balance of power would affect their own pockets, with 46% saying a breakdown between Europe and the US ‘wouldn’t make much difference’ to their household finances – only 27% believe it would affect them negatively.
Where do Britons stand on trying to preserve relations with the US versus standing up for Europe?
Europe ultimately faces two choices: to embrace a subordinate role to the USA in the Western alliance, or to more assertively establish its own autonomy in the world.
Britons tend to prefer the latter option. When posed as a binary, 44% say “It is more important to preserve European policy independence and values, even if this meant an end to the alliance between the USA and Europe”, compared to 30% who say “It is more important to preserve Europe's alliance with the USA, even if this means compromising in some areas of policy independence and values”.
One factor in the equation may be that Britons tend to think Europe can ‘ride out’ Donald Trump.
There is a clear sense that the public think the US’s current attitudes to Europe are a Trump-exclusive phenomenon rather than a permanent change. Half of Britons (50%) say that “once Donald Trump is no longer president, US foreign policy and attitudes towards Europe will return to how they had been previously”, twice the number who think “US foreign policy and attitudes towards Europe have been permanently changed by Donald Trump, and will not return to how they had been previously once he is no longer president” (25%).
So what would Britons be willing to do if the relationship broke down? Two thirds (67%) are willing to increase military spending on the domestic armed forces, while 53% say they would support increasing financial and arms aid to Ukraine if the US withdrew its backing.
However, just 20% would be willing to forge closer relations with other major powers if it meant overlooking human rights issues.
From the other angle, what price are Britons willing to pay to keep the USA on side?
Broadly speaking, the public are willing to do more when it comes to defence. The majority (57%) say they would be willing to increase national defence spending in order to please the US, with 54% also saying they could support greatly increasing financial and arms aid to Ukraine. Despite this, only 15% are willing to cover the cost of US armed forces in Europe.
Otherwise 57% say they would be willing to reduce immigration, but only a quarter or more agreed to any of the other measures we asked about.
Just 26% see loosening restrictions against hate speech as a price worth paying to keep the US on side.
And when it comes to economic and trade measures, just 19% are willing to change European trade policy towards other countries along lines preferred by the US, 18% are ok with agreeing trade deals that are slightly more favourable to the US than Europe (falling to 10% if they are “substantially” more favourable to America), and only 10% would be willing to sign up to US-requested trade policies that would slightly raise the cost of living in Europe.
The chart below highlights how those who prioritise preserving the US-Europe alliance and those who prioritise preserving European autonomy differ across these two questions.
Unsurprisingly the former group are more likely to be willing to make changes in order to please the US – although it is notable that even among the alliance preservers only a majority back reducing migration, increasing military spending, and increasing aid to Ukraine.
The majority are pro-America (but not pro-Trump), are more likely to see America as stronger than Europe and that the continent is reliant on the US for peace and prosperity.
By contrast, those who prioritise European autonomy are more likely to be pro-EU in general, are more likely (still) to want to increase help to Ukraine, and more willing to take firmer action against the US on Greenland (including a quarter who would sanction military retaliation).
While being willing to go it alone from the US, they are less likely than the alliance-preservers to say they would be willing to foster greater relations with other major powers if it meant overlooking human rights issues.
How do views differ by voting group?
Breaking down results by how Britons voted at the 2024 general election show that most of those who backed left wing parties (Labour, Lib Dem and Greens) prioritise European autonomy (58-65%), while those backing right wing parties (Conservative and Reform) generally favour preserving the US-Europe alliance (49-53%).
As a result, the voting breakdown largely mirrors that from the prior section, with the most notable differences being areas where Reform UK voters stand out from the Conservatives (more pro-US and Trump and more anti-EU, less willing to support Ukraine, and more likely to think Europe is too restrictive on free speech), and where the Greens stand apart from Labour and Lib Dem voters (less critical of immigration, less willing to increase military spending).
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Photo: Getty
