The findings are from a a wide-ranging report commissioned by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) across 13 EU member states along with Switzerland and the UK. The survey concluded that "European trust in the US has crashed to new lows."
The findings make bleak reading for the transatlantic relationship but also show that Europeans do believe strained relations could be a temporary blip tied to the Trump presidency and that relations may improve again once he leaves office.
"Fully half the European public now see the US as not an ally but a 'necessary partner'," the report states. "A quarter of respondents, and higher shares in Denmark, France, Spain and Switzerland, even see it as a rival or even an adversary".
The EU countries polled were Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden.
"Europeans do not expect America under Donald Trump to protect them, and they recognise the need for more autonomous security," the report explains, reflecting the mood in Europe that it cannot rely on the US for military protection any longer.
