No. According to the latest Gallup global leadership survey data from 2025, the U.S. global approval rating stands at 31%—not recovering to the levels of respect and authority that characterized earlier decades. This represents a significant decline from 39% in 2024, showing that the narrative of restored American standing has not translated into measurable international support. The gap is even starker when you look at who people trust more: China’s global approval rating has now surpassed the U.S.
at 36%, marking the first time in Gallup’s tracking that another major power holds higher global confidence. The drop in approval is particularly striking because it reflects disapproval at record levels. Nearly half of the world’s population (48%) now disapproves of U.S. leadership—a historic high that signals deep reservations about American influence and direction. This sentiment matters beyond diplomacy; it affects trade relationships, international cooperation on financial regulations, and even the enforcement of agreements involving unclaimed assets and cross-border settlement claims. When American credibility declines globally, the ability to negotiate favorable terms for citizens reclaiming their money becomes more complicated.
Table of Contents
- Why Has Global Approval of U.S. Leadership Fallen So Sharply?
- The NATO Collapse and What It Reveals About American Standing
- China’s Rise as the Preferred Global Leader
- How Reduced U.S. Credibility Affects International Financial Cooperation
- The Warning Sign No One Is Talking About
- What the Data Tells Us About America’s Soft Power
- What Comes Next—The Outlook for American Credibility
- Conclusion
Why Has Global Approval of U.S. Leadership Fallen So Sharply?
The 2024-to-2025 decline of 8 percentage points reflects multiple compounding factors: shifting trade policies, withdrawal from certain international commitments, and the perception that American leadership has become more transactional and less predictable. The survey covers 130+ countries, giving a representative picture of global sentiment. The decline isn’t uniform—some regions show stability while others have shifted dramatically. NATO allies, in particular, have shown severe erosion of confidence: approval among NATO countries dropped from 35% in 2024 to just 21% in 2025, a 14-point decline in a single year. This loss of confidence has real consequences.
Countries that once looked to the U.S. as a guarantor of financial systems and settlement agreements now view American institutions with skepticism. For citizens with unclaimed property held abroad or claims against international entities, the reduced credibility of U.S. negotiating power can mean slower dispute resolution and weaker leverage in demanding returns. When American officials sit at the table to discuss financial repatriation or settlement terms, their counterparts may approach negotiations from a position of less respect.
The NATO Collapse and What It Reveals About American Standing
The 21% approval rating among NATO allies is perhaps the most damaging finding in the Gallup data, because these are supposed to be America’s closest partners. A drop of 14 points in one year suggests not minor disagreement but a fundamental recalibration of trust. This reflects concerns about reliability, commitment to existing alliances, and whether the U.S. will honor long-standing security and economic commitments. When NATO members doubt American leadership, the entire architecture of post-World War II international finance and law becomes unstable.
The limitation here is critical: this NATO data represents only 31 countries surveyed, though those are the most economically and politically important relationships for the U.S. The broader global picture (130+ countries) includes regions where disapproval is even more pronounced. Middle Eastern nations, some African states, and parts of Asia have shown stronger disapproval trends. For American citizens trying to recover unclaimed money from accounts or property held in countries with low U.S. approval, embassy support and diplomatic backing become harder to access when resentment toward American government is high.
China’s Rise as the Preferred Global Leader
China’s 36% approval rating, now exceeding the U.S., represents a strategic inflection point in global perception. This doesn’t mean the world trusts China more in absolute terms—36% is hardly a mandate—but it does mean that fewer people oppose China than oppose the United States. The shift reflects years of consistent investment in relationships, infrastructure projects, and economic partnerships that position China as a rising power willing to engage with countries the West has neglected or confronted. The practical implication for individuals dealing with unclaimed property claims is significant.
As China’s influence grows, financial systems and settlement agreements increasingly involve Chinese entities, Chinese courts, and Chinese negotiating positions. American citizens with claims against Chinese companies or assets held in Chinese institutions may find that reduced U.S. standing limits their recourse. Conversely, American creditors trying to collect from other countries may lose the diplomatic leverage they once held when Washington carried more global weight.
How Reduced U.S. Credibility Affects International Financial Cooperation
One concrete example: when unclaimed property held in European banks or Middle Eastern accounts needs to be returned, the U.S. State Department and Treasury work with foreign governments to enforce settlements. A Secretary of State with 48% global disapproval faces skepticism when demanding compliance with financial treaties. Other nations may drag their feet on returning assets, knowing that the political cost of resistance to American pressure is lower than it was five years ago.
The comparison is instructive: during periods of high American global approval (such as the late 1990s), unclaimed property claims were often resolved quickly because foreign governments wanted to maintain good relations. Now, with approval at 31% and disapproval at a record 48%, negotiations take longer, terms become less favorable, and some countries simply ignore American requests for cooperation entirely. The tradeoff is that while reduced American dominance might sound appealing to those skeptical of U.S. power, it directly harms ordinary Americans trying to recover their own money from overseas accounts or settlements.
The Warning Sign No One Is Talking About
Record-level disapproval (48%) deserves more attention than it typically receives, because it suggests we are not on a trajectory toward recovery. If approval drops 8 points in a year while disapproval hits an all-time high, the pattern is not stabilizing—it is accelerating. This is the warning: the situation could deteriorate further if conditions don’t change. For people with time-sensitive unclaimed property claims or those waiting on international settlement agreements, the narrowing window of American influence means they should pursue those claims sooner rather than later, while U.S.
institutions still retain enough credibility to enforce agreements. The limitation in the Gallup methodology is that approval ratings measure sentiment, not actual policy outcomes. A country can have low approval ratings but still comply with trade agreements and financial treaties due to economic incentives rather than respect. However, compliance motivated by incentive rather than respect is always more fragile and more susceptible to revision.
What the Data Tells Us About America’s Soft Power
Soft power—the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than coercion—is precisely what these approval ratings measure. When 48% of the world disapproves of U.S. leadership, soft power has eroded severely. This makes everything harder: from negotiating trade terms to enforcing intellectual property rights, from collecting debts to retrieving stolen assets.
An American company trying to recover funds misappropriated by a foreign party faces a government and court system that may not be motivated to help, given low confidence in American leadership and values. The specific example that illustrates this: unclaimed property claims involving accounts frozen during political disputes, or assets seized during sanctions disputes, become nearly impossible to resolve when the U.S. government lacks the diplomatic capital to pressure resolution. Countries that once feared American economic sanctions now calculate that the cost-benefit analysis has shifted in their favor.
What Comes Next—The Outlook for American Credibility
The Gallup data suggests we are at a inflection point. If approval ratings continue to decline, we may see more countries openly challenging American negotiating positions and less willingness to cooperate on financial disputes. Conversely, if there is a genuine effort to rebuild relationships and demonstrate reliability, the numbers could shift—but a swing from 31% to the 39% we saw in 2024 would take years, not months.
For citizens with unclaimed money claims, the outlook is mixed. Some countries (particularly those in the Americas and Western Europe) may maintain cooperative relationships despite low approval ratings. Others may use the period of reduced American influence to settle old scores and ignore American requests for cooperation on financial matters. The wisest course is to pursue legitimate claims now, while institutions that work on behalf of unclaimed property holders still retain some diplomatic backing.
Conclusion
The narrative that America is respected again does not match the data. Global approval at 31%, disapproval at a record 48%, and NATO approval collapsed to 21% paint a picture of diminished standing on the world stage. This has tangible consequences for ordinary people trying to recover unclaimed property, settle international disputes, or enforce claims against foreign entities.
The approval ratings reflect a fundamental shift in how the world perceives American leadership—not as a reliable partner but as a transactional power whose influence is waning. If you are in the process of pursuing unclaimed property claims, especially those involving international accounts or cross-border settlements, the data suggests you should act while American institutions still retain enough credibility to negotiate on your behalf. The window of opportunity may not remain open indefinitely. Check your state’s unclaimed property database, contact your state treasurer’s office, and pursue legitimate claims now—before the erosion of American credibility makes those claims even harder to resolve.