LONDON, U.K. — For the first time in almost two decades of polling, the United States now lags behind most of the other leading industrialized nations in the G7 across a range of Gallup indicators. The U.S. trails several G7 countries when it comes to its own people’s confidence in the national government and key institutions — including the military and the judiciary — as well as the ability of its people to meet their basic needs.

Americans No Longer Most Confident in Military

Since 2006, Americans’ confidence in the nation’s military has stood out among the G7. Even though it continues to spend more on its military than most nations on Earth combined, Americans’ confidence in their armed forces dipped to a new low of 81% in 2023, for the first time falling significantly below the ratings of another G7 member country (France).

These results mirror the decline in Americans’ confidence in the military observed in other Gallup polling in 2023. More recently, in February 2024, Americans were split in their views of funding the military and national defense. Similar proportions felt that […]