It’s early days to find out what the world thinks of Trump and his war on Iran and then his ceasefire agreement – although, as would be expected, Israel and Australia have leapt to say they agree with it.

Trump is probably hoping this will be enough to ensure his long-yearned for Nobel Peace Prize, but the judges will probably wait a little while, given his unpredictability and whether the ceasefire is real and enduring.

He was also starting from well back in terms of international attitudes to him and his policies.

A YouGov survey of US adults on 23 June on whether they approved or disapproved of the way Trump is handling Iran and found that 22% strongly approved; 13% somewhat approved; 10% somewhat disapproved; 43% strongly disapproved; and 2% had no opinion. Another poll shortly after the attacks showed 36% of Americans had heard a lot about the bombings; 43% heard a little and 17% had heard nothing at all (where were they – in a bunker somewhere?)

One small recent US study did suggest more than 50% support for the strikes — perhaps an inevitable rally-around-the-flag reaction — but that has not been reflected in other surveys yet.

The YouGov findings come at a time when the US and Trump have suffered huge declines in attitudes across a wide range of countries, policies and characteristics. For instance, a Lowy Institute poll (12/6) found that only 36% of the public express any level of trust in America to act responsibly in the world – a 20% drop since last year and the lowest level on record. Only 25% of Australians expressed confidence in him to do the right things regarding world affairs.

The latest annual Pew Research Centre poll has also illustrated the impact of Trump on attitudes to the US – both in Australia and the rest of the world. They surveyed 28,333 people in 24 countries — not including the US — between 8 January and 26 April. A lot has happened since then but the odds are attitudes are worse rather than better.

Israel, Nigeria, Hungary, Turkey India and Kenya have become more likely to express confidence in Trump’s handling of world affairs. In contrast Mexico, Sweden, Poland, Canada, Netherlands, Spain, Korea, Germany, Japan, Australia and France have double digit declines. Australia has declined by 11%.

As for doing the right thing, only Hungary, India, Israel, Nigeria and Kenya believe Trump would do the right thing regarding world affairs. Not surprisingly, Trump gets relatively high ratings among supporters of Bolsonaro, Netanyahu and Milei.

When it comes to handling international issues, huge majorities say they have no confidence in Trump’s handling of US immigration policies; the Russia-Ukraine war; US-China relations; global economic problems, the conflict between Israel and its neighbours and climate change.

As for personality traits — when asked what doesn’t describe him — majorities believe he doesn’t understand complex problems, is not diplomatic nor well-qualified to be president.

In terms of overall views of America, Sweden, Australia and Turkey have the highest unfavourable ratings of the US while the usual suspects see him favourably.

When asked who is the world’s leading economic power, there are broadly three groups of responses with some saying it’s the US, a few saying its equal shares and more saying China. Australia is in the more category.

When asked to say whether democracy in the US works very/somewhat poorly or very/somewhat/well, only Hungary, Poland, Israel, Nigeria, Kenya, Brazil, India, Indonesia, South Korea and Hungary think US democracy works very or somewhat well. Only 26% of Australians think US democracy works well. Readers can draw their own conclusions from who thinks what.

When it comes to confidence in Trump, around six in ten (62%) of those surveyed have little or no confidence that he would do the right thing regarding world affairs. The highest ratings were the usual suspects including Israel and Hungary while the lowest were Mexico, Sweden, Turkey, Germany and Spain.

Much of this is obviously driven by ideological leanings and those who place themselves on the right are more likely than those on the left to have confidence in Trump.

For some reason, those on the left in Turkey have more confidence in Trump than those on the right. Perhaps it’s an indication that Erdogan is so far beyond the pale that even Trump looks acceptable to his opponents.

There are also substantial left/right differences in Australia, Canada, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, South Korea and the UK. In Canada, this might reflect differences between provinces but the last Australian election result suggests Trump lite at least got a hammering. Although can we now define Albanese as Trump-lite given his attitude to bombing Iran?

When it comes to rating Trump on the Russia-Ukraine war, only four countries in the survey said they had more than 50% confidence in his handling of the conflict – Hungary, Israel, Nigeria and Kenya. The regular appearance of Nigeria and Kenya in similar rankings may be due to the presence of large number of evangelical Christians in these countries.

When it comes to the international economy, only Israel, Nigeria and Kenya have a lot of confidence in Trump. The same applies to Trump’s handling of the US-China relationship. In this category, Australia and Mexico lead all other nations in lack of confidence in Trump.

In terms of Trump’s handling of climate change, only India, Indonesia, Kenya and Nigeria (yet again) have majorities that are confident in Trump’s handling of the issue. Even Australia, with its tepid climate policies, is among the top two countries with not too much or no confidence at all in Trump’s handling of climate change.

Where Trump is a complete failure is his ranking on honesty where a median of 28% across the 24 countries surveyed said this describes him. Even in Israel, fewer than half think he is honest. About 66% of the total sample don’t think Trump is honest and only 28% think he is.

Australia’s rating of whether various leaders would do the right thing regarding world affairs was only 22, slightly less than the 25% for Xi Jinping.

Meanwhile almost everyone thinks he is dangerous (even Kenya and Nigeria) and 69% don’t think he is able to understand complex problems. Not too many think he is diplomatic, with South Africa, Canada, the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden among those most convinced of this.

A majority of the countries sampled think Trump is arrogant, with only Nigeria having a majority that think he isn’t.

How this all plays out we simply don’t know. Recently the Doomsday Clock got moved a bit forward. Would it get moved even a bit further in the weeks ahead is another question.

The views expressed in this article may or may not reflect those of Pearls and Irritations.