6 in 10 Britons hold unfavourable opinion of Donald Trump and Elon Musk

A new Ipsos Political Pulse survey, taken between 10th and 13th January, looks at favourability towards Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and Elon Musk and what the British public expect from a second Trump presidency.

Favourability towards Trump and Musk

• 63% of Britons hold an unfavourable opinion of president-elect Donald Trump (+5 points from November), 22% favourable (-3).  
• Meanwhile, 20% hold favourable views of current President Joe Biden and 44% unfavourable.
• Younger Britons are more favourable towards Trump than older Britons. Among those aged 18-34, 31% are favourable and 47% unfavourable. Among those aged 55+, 15% are favourable and 72% unfavourable.
• 53% of Reform UK voters are favourable towards Trump and 30% unfavourable.

• A similar pattern is observed with Elon Musk, with 63% unfavourable, although fewer Britons are favourable (17%).
• 28% of those aged 18-34 are favourable towards Musk, 47% unfavourable. Among those aged 55+ just 8% are favourable and 75% unfavourable. Reform UK voters are split, 40% favourable, 38% unfavourable.

Public perceptions of a second Trump presidency

• The British public are more likely to think Trump’s impending presidency will have a negative rather than positive impact on a host of issues. They are likely to think his presidency will be negative for global security / conflict (53%), political stability in other countries (non-US) (52%) and political stability in the US (51%).
• The public are more likely to think a Trump presidency will be negative rather than positive for Britain’s influence with the US (48% to 18%), the trading relationship between the UK and US (47% to 21%), the UK economy (43% to 17%) and UK national security (39% to 18%).

Keiran Pedley, Director of UK Politics at Ipsos said:

These findings show that the British public continue to hold a broadly unfavourable opinion of Donald Trump, and they tend to think his presidency will have a negative impact on the UK economy, security and the relationship between the UK and US generally. The public also hold similarly unfavourable views of Elon Musk too. Interestingly, even Reform voters, who are net positive towards Trump, are divided in their views of Musk.

Technical note

• Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of 1,139 adults aged 18+ across Great Britain. Interviews were conducted online between the 10th-13th January 2025. 
• Data are weighted to match the profile of the population. All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error.