Every year, one survey does something few other polls can: it asks ordinary people across Latin America what they think of the United States and its president. The Latinobarómetro, a regional opinion survey that has tracked attitudes across the region for roughly three decades, gives that question a consistent gauge of the region’s public opinion towards the U.S. president.

Its 2026 edition offers a detailed look at how Latin Americans view President Donald Trump’s handling of world affairs and international management, and which countries see him most and least favorably.

The 2026 survey conducted 19,207 face-to-face interviews across 17 Latin American countries between May 7 and June 17, with a maximum margin of error of about 3.1 points per country, according to El Financiero.

Nicaragua was excluded for security reasons.

Latinobarómetro asks about the U.S. president in two ways, and the difference matters when reading headlines:

Approval: whether respondents approve or disapprove of how the president manages international affairs. (Score: a 0-to-10 rating, where 0 is “very bad” and 10 is “very good.”)

Across Latin America, 34% approve of Trump’s international management and 59% disapprove. On the 0-to-10 scale, he received 4.7, according to Bloomberg Línea.

That score sits between recent U.S. presidents, as measured by Latinobarómetro in their final years in office: Barack Obama scored 6.2, Joe Biden 5.5 and George W. Bush 4.2.

Trump’s own first-term score in 2020 was 3.3, so his rating in the region has improved significantly.

Who Approves Most, and Who Approves Least

The country-by-country results show a wide range:

Venezuela: 61% approve. The highest in the region, and the only country besides the Dominican Republic where a majority approves. Only 33% disapprove, the lowest disapproval anywhere.

Dominican Republic: 53%
Costa Rica: 42%
Colombia: 41%
Paraguay: 40%
Bolivia: 39%
Peru: 38%
Ecuador: 35%
Chile: 31%
Panama: 30%
Brazil: 30%
Argentina: 29%
El Salvador: 28%
Honduras: 26%
Guatemala: 24%
Mexico and Uruguay: 18% each. Mexico also records the highest disapproval, at 79%.

On the 0-to-10 scale, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic tied for the highest score at 6.2. Mexico was lowest at 2.8, followed by Chile at 3.3 and Uruguay at 3.4.

Latinobarómetro itself points to politics. The organization noted that, with the exception of Argentina and Chile, the countries in what it calls the “Americas Shield” have the best evaluations of Trump, which Bloomberg Línea read as a reflection of alignment between right-wing governments and his administration.

Geography and proximity also seem to matter. Mexico, which borders the United States and has been directly affected by U.S. tariffs and immigration policy, is among the most critical.

Venezuela’s high mark comes from a different place. The survey was conducted months after a U.S. military operation removed Nicolás Maduro in January 2026, and El Financiero noted the timing. The survey does not itself establish why Venezuelans answered as they did.

Disapproval Does Not Mean Hostility

Despite the regional disapproval of Trump’s global management, views of the United States itself remain positive. According to recent reporting, 71% of respondents hold positive views of U.S.-Latin American relations and 63% regard the United States favorably.

El Financiero reported that 74% view commerce with the United States favorably, from 89% in Costa Rica to 58% in Argentina, with Mexico at 60%.

Mexican attitudes toward the U.S. have swung with the president in office, reaching 76% favorability under Obama and falling to between 43% and 48% during Trump’s earlier terms.

Latinobarómetro also found that 55% of Latin Americans expect the impact of Trump’s policies on the world to be negative.