Survey: US influence on Germany seen to be growing

Two-thirds of citizens in Germany believe that developments in the US have a greater influence on Germany today than they did before President Donald Trump's second term.

In a survey conducted by the Forsa research institute for the German-language Internationale Politik (International Politics) magazine, 67% of respondents agreed with this, compared with 29% who perceive the influence of US political events on their country to be similar (18% cent) or less (11%) than in the preceding years.

Forsa surveyed 1,004 people on August 14 with a margin of error or plus or minus three percentage points. 

The view that US political developments hold more sway over Germany since Trump returned to the White House in January 2025 is shared by a large majority across all demographic and voter groups.

However, people in eastern Germany are slightly more likely to believe that this influence is increasing (78%) than those in the west of the country (65%), according to the survey.

Among respondents aged 60 and over, 18% believe that the US influence on Germany is now less than it was a few years ago.

By contrast, only 2% of 18 to 29-year-olds think so, and 6% of 30 to 44-year-olds.