He called her “beautiful”, and she didn’t appear to mind. Perhaps neither did the Italians.
It’s not a secret that Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and US President Donald Trump enjoy a fairly close relationship, as far as European leaders go.
That might also explain why Italy emerged as one of the countries with the most favourable view of the US head of state, according to the latest such YouGov poll.
“Favourable”, though, is relative here, as the percentage of Italians holding a positive view is only 28%.
Italy’s result even outperforms Trump’s popularity among the US’s historical allies in the UK, now at 22%, four points up from October.
France (18%) and Spain (16%) show lower support, while approval rates hit rock bottom in Denmark.
Trump’s popularity there has long remained below 10% — perhaps not helped by the president’s territorial ambitions on Greenland — and it currently stands at 6%.
What are the most pro-Trump political parties in Europe?
Trump’s extremely low popularity rate in Denmark is consistent with another poll published by the European Council on Foreign Relations, where it placed last, at 5%.
Here, the US president’s approval ratings are dominated by a central-eastern European bloc, with top approval results in Romania (30%), Hungary (29%), and Poland (25%).
Notably, Romania (41%), Hungary (33%) and Poland (23%) also emerged as the countries that mostly believe a Trump presidency can benefit world peace.
They are also on the same wavelength when a similar question is asked to their local parties, showing the highest Trump approval rates in Europe, particularly among far-right parties across the continent.
Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party members are the biggest “Trumpists”, with 68% of respondents claiming his presidency is a good thing, not just for American citizens, but also for their country.
The Alliance for the Union of Romanians and Poland’s Law and Justice follow next, both with 51%. All three of these political groups have been classified as eurosceptic or mildly eurosceptic.
Another Polish party, the Confederation, follows in fourth place (39%), followed by Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy with 31%.
Europeans felt ‘humiliated’ after last summer’s tariff agreement
Another recent poll run by French geopolitical journal Le Grand Continent reveals that Europe’s divide generally lies between those who consider Trump an “enemy” (France, Spain) and those with milder views: judging him to be neither a friend nor an enemy (Italy, Germany).
On the other hand, Poland again stands out as a country with a relatively high percentage of people perceiving Trump as a friend (33%), the highest in this poll.
If there is one thing that has Europeans united, it is a general disappointment with how the EU is handling relations with Washington (77%).
In particular, the poll revealed 52% said they felt “humiliated” after the summer EU-US agreement slapped 15% tariffs on most EU exports.