Brits are falling out of love with America | The Economist

Britons have been falling out. of love with America. for a long time. And you see the first dip. right after the start. of the Iraq war. Before that favourability. of America is almost. at an-all time high. Then Iraq happens. and you see a really steep decline. which never really recovers. And then you have the. two Trump administrations. that you see again, particularly the latest one. Britons in particular. seem to be very. irked about the war in Iran. as well as actually. the seizing of. President Maduro. You see a very steep decline. since January this year. in how Britons see America.

More than half. think it's a negative force now. Do you think this fraying is. particularly the result. of this presidency? I think that there is. some degree of fraying. that was going to happen. under... not fraying even, but just a loosening. that would have happened. under any president. It is the case that America needs. Britain much less than. Britain needs America. I don't think that that's. a controversial fact. I think there is something. that is important. stylistically, though,

about the way that this president. talks about Britain. and then what. that does politically. for the person who's in office, of course, right now. Keir Starmer, but for any. subsequent prime minister. Because if rhetorically America. is in the position. of consistently putting. Britain down, then. the mood politically in Britain. is going to be that. the prime minister has to balance. domestic politics. which is increasingly less.

favourable to America. with the strategic. need to kiss up to America. and that's very difficult. And I think that then. you get something. that becomes more. and more corrosive over time, where the prime minister. in that situation. can't quite achieve. both the goals of maintaining. domestic popularity. while also serving this broader. strategic relationship. and I think that. is quite insidious.