On the 16th local time, the latest poll data released by the Australian think tank Lowy Institute showed that Australians’ trust in the United States has fallen to a new low since Trump took office as US President again in January this year.
The poll showed that only 36% of respondents expressed a certain degree of trust in “the United States taking responsible actions in the world”, which was 20 percentage points lower than the survey in 2024. This is also the lowest level of trust in the United States by Australians in the 20 years since the Lowy Institute conducted this survey.
In contrast, 64% of respondents said that they “did not trust” (32%) or “did not trust” (32%) the United States to act responsibly.
Among them, the proportion of respondents who “did not trust” the United States at all doubled from 16% in 2024, and it was the first time in 20 years that it exceeded 20%.
On the 2nd of this month, US President Trump signed an executive order to impose so-called “reciprocal tariffs” on all trading partners, including Australia. The news caused the Australian stock market to fall by more than 6% at one point, and the Australian dollar to the US dollar exchange rate fell to a 5-year low.
Australia is scheduled to hold a federal election on May 3 this year. According to AFP, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese promised in a televised debate on the 16th that he would not give in to US President Trump and would defend Australia’s interests in the trade dispute with the United States.
Recent polls show that the Labor Party led by Albanese is leading by a narrow margin. Analysis points out that his criticism of the US tariff policy has won the support of the Australian public.