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More than 60% of Japanese people are concerned about U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, while over 50% in the United States are hopeful, according to a joint survey by The Yomiuri Shimbun and U.S. polling firm Gallup Inc., which revealed a contrast between the two countries.
In the November poll, people in Japan and the United States were asked whether they felt hopeful or concerned about Trump, who had won the presidential election earlier that month, serving as the next president. According to the poll, 63% of Japanese respondents felt concerned, surpassing the 27% who felt hopeful. Meanwhile, 55% of the U.S. respondents felt hopeful, and 44% felt concerned.
Regarding the Japan-U.S. relationship, Japanese respondents who said it would get worse climbed to 33%, much higher than the 6% in the previous survey, conducted during the second year of the administration of President Joe Biden in 2022. The result appears to reflect concerns that Trump would make excessive demands on Japan in the areas of diplomacy and economy.
Eleven percent of Japanese respondents said the bilateral relationship would get better, up from 9% in 2022, and 49% said it would stay the same, down from 81%.
In the United States, 32% responded that the relationship would get worse, up from 14% in 2022. Forty percent said it would get better, up from 29%, while 25% said it would stay the same, down from 50%.
Sixty-one percent of Japanese respondents said the Trump administration, which will be inaugurated in January, should prioritize multi-country goal-setting and cooperation, down from 70%, surpassing the 21% who preferred the philosophy of America First, up from 10%.
In response to the same question, 57% of U.S. respondents selected America First, up from 56%. Thirty-nine percent preferred cooperation, down from 40%.
Meanwhile, 73% of respondents in Japan and 78% in the United States said the United States should play a leading role in international community. Compared to 2018, when a similar question was asked, the percentage remained almost flat in Japan but increased by 19 points in the United States.
Respondents were asked about China, with which the United States is experiencing escalating tension. In both Japan and the United States, there was a decrease in the percentage of respondents who thought China, which conducted large-scale exercises encircling Taiwan in May and October, would launch a military invasion of Taiwan. The figure was 53% in Japan, down from 61%, and 49% in the United States, down from 56%.
In the event of a Chinese military invasion of Taiwan, 69% of Japanese respondents thought the U.S. military should intervene to defend Taiwan, down from 72%, while 55% in the United States thought so, up from 48%. The view was held by a majority in both countries.
When asked about whether the United States should increase its military assistance to Ukraine, against which Russia continues its aggression, 39% of Japanese respondents answered it should keep it as it is, followed by 29% who said it should increase it, and 19% who said it should decrease it.
In the United States, the answers were divided — 34% favored a decrease, 33% favored an increase, and 31% favored keeping it the same.
Worry over AI influence
When the respondents were asked whether the online use of fake information generated by artificial intelligence (AI) should be regulated by their governments, 80% of Japanese respondents and 68% of U.S. respondents said their governments should regulate it. Those who said their governments should not regulate it accounted for 14% in Japan and 29% in the United States.
In addition, 79% of Japanese respondents and 84% of U.S. respondents thought that people having their votes influenced by fake information online was a serious problem. But 15% in Japan and 16% in the United States did not think it was serious.
The poll was conducted by telephone in Japan and the United States from Nov. 18 to 24.
