Sweeping Australian opinion poll shows tanking trust levels toward United States

A major health check on Australian attitudes shows Donald Trump’s trade war has rattled our faith in the US, sending trust to record lows.

Only 36 per cent of Australians have any faith the US will act responsibly in the world, a 20 point drop since last year, shocking new polling has revealed.

The Lowy Institute’s 2025 Poll, touted as the broadest annual survey of Australian attitudes, reveals Australians’ feelings of safety and economic optimism have fallen to their lowest levels in the 21-year history of the poll.

Trust in the US was a record low in the poll, however the nation is still seen as key to ensuring our security, Lowy Institute executive director, Michael Fullilove said

Australia’s faith in the US has plunged, particularly in the wake of tariff announcements. Picture: Saul Loeb / AFP

“Australians are clearly unsettled by what they’ve seen of the second Trump administration, with almost two-thirds (64 per cent) now holding little to no trust in the United States to act responsibly — the lowest level in the history of the Lowy Institute Poll,” Dr Fullilove said.

“At the same time, the public continues to separate the person of the president from the institution of the alliance.

“Most Australians (80 per cent) still believe the Australia-US alliance is important to our security - one of the most consistent findings in the history of the Institute’s polling.”

The polling did however find that 40 per cent of Australians believed we needed to distance ourselves more from the US.

Trust in China was also at dire levels, with only 20 per cent of those surveyed expressing any trust whatsoever.

The polling surveyed a nationally representative sample of 2117 Australian adults in early March. The polling has a 2.1 per cent margin of error.

Only half of Australians reported feeling any level of optimism about the five-year economic outlook, equalling the pandemic doldrums of 2020, and the pessimistic result was recorded before President Trump’s ‘liberation day’ global tariffs rocked financial markets.

The concern about global trade has sharpened the desire to manufacture more domestically. More than 80 per cent of Australians feel more should be built onshore even if it costs more, while just 16 per cent of people say Australia should source all goods from wherever they cost the least.

The polling shows serious concerns about Australia’s economic future. Photo: Gaye Gerard / NewsWire

Half of the country believes immediate steps should be taken to address global warming even if it involves significant cost.

“As Australia moves towards net zero emissions, three-quarters of Australians see renewables playing a ‘major role’ in the 2050 energy mix, compared to far fewer that envisage a major role for nuclear (37 per cent) or coal (24 per cent),” Dr Fullilove said.

Six months out from the under-16s social media ban taking effect, 70 per cent of respondents say social media does more harm than good.

Originally published as Sweeping Australian opinion poll shows tanking trust levels toward United States