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The majority of British consider the United States as a “serious threat” for security after the election of President Donald Trump, who qualified as “peacemaker” and aspires to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Sixty-two percent of people said that America posed a “very” or “serious” risk for world peace in April. This is the double of 36% of people last fall, before Trump was elected, according to the last British survey on social attitudes published on Wednesday.
Only Russia – 90% – was perceived as a greater threat, plunging the United States ahead of Israel and Iran, which were both considered a security problem of 67% of the British public.
Trump campaigned on a promise to quickly end the War of Israel-Hamas and the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, but has fueled the flames of the two conflicts since its entry into office for the second time.
The investigation reflects the perceptions of the public before the Israeli-Iranian war broke out and the United States launched strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, which caused a provisional cease-fire.
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Gianfranco Addario, director of research at the National Center for Social Research, who published the data, said that Trump’s election had motivated America’s public opinion as a threat to levels “never seen before”.
The question was asked twice before 2024, with concerns culminating at 47% in 2005 after the American invasion of Iraq.
Trump campaigned on a promise to keep America out of any new war and said in his second inaugural speech that his “most proud heritage would be that of a peacemaker”. He also has aspirations to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
The latest BSA survey, an annual study which has taken place since 1983, was carried out between September and October 2024.
A record of 9% of respondents – interviewed before the British government’s decision to strengthen the military budget – said defense should be the top priority for additional state expenditure, against only 2% when the question in 2021.
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Addario said that the change in attitudes was likely to persist in the long term, adding that the global geopolitical situation had deteriorated since the end of last year.
Public support for the reduction of the well -being bill and the reduction of public spending and taxation has increased, although these opinions are always supported by a minority of people – 11% and 15%, respectively.
The proportion of people who said that disability benefits should increase below 50% for the first time in 2024, but were still four times higher than the share that wanted to reduce it.
The government of Sir Keir Starmer has advanced the plans to revise the handicap support, which prompted a counterou among labor deputies, who seek to block the controversial well-being bill.
Sir John Curtice, principal researcher at Natcen, said that data suggested that continuing growth in tax increases would not “necessarily be the easiest way” for work while he tries to repair public services in a tight financial environment.
“The political difficulty with these policies is that there are potentially identifiable winners and losers, and it is often the losers who cry the strongest,” he added.
