Bigger threat to UK than terrorists

Donald Trump is bigger threat to UK than terrorists, some Brits think

Almost a quarter of Brits thought the U.S. president is the biggest risk to national security — second only to Russia.

By Noah Keate

Some Brits believe Donald Trump is a bigger threat to U.K. national security than terrorist organizations, new polling released Thursday showed.

A Good Growth Foundation report found 24 percent of Brits thought the U.S. president was the biggest threat to national security interests compared to 22 percent for terrorist organizations. Trump was second only to Russia on 34 percent.

JL Partners polled 2,209 adults in Great Britain between March 14 and 19, including an oversample of 222 Labour to Reform UK switchers.

The polling also showed almost half of Brits thought Trump would worsen the U.K. economy (47 percent) while 45 percent thought the president would damage Britain’s safety and security.

Nearly three in 10 (29 percent) voters also said one of the worst things about Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who achieved a successful set of local election results last week, was his closeness to Trump.

The U.S. president has repeatedly polled poorly with British voters and protests are expected ahead of his second state visit.

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has repeatedly stressed his government would not choose between good relations with the U.S. or EU, while the White House is poised to announce a trade agreement with Britain on Thursday.

However, the report showed 62 percent of all Britons, including two-thirds (67 percent) of Labour’s 2024 voters and 60 percent of Labour Leave voters, backed joining forces with the EU against “unpredictable partners” in a forced choice against doubling down on U.S. relations.

Exactly half (50 percent) of Labour to Reform UK switchers saw the EU as the U.K.’s most trustworthy ally, with 75 percent of them supporting “some” or “a lot” of cooperation on trade and the economy.