French President Emmanuel Macron is at the top of Romanians’ trust ranking, while in terms of notoriety, Donald Trump leads.
Maia Sandu is second in the trust ranking and third in notoriety, according to the barometer conducted by INSCOP Research.
Trust Ranking
- Emmanuel Macron - 32.9% have a lot of trust (9.6% very much and 23.3% quite a lot) in the French president.
- Maia Sandu - 28.6% trust (11.5% very much and 17.1% quite a lot),
- Donald Trump - 24.8% trust (10.1% very much and 14.7% quite a lot)
- Ursula von der Leyen (President of the European Commission) - 23.7% (4.7% very much and 19% quite a lot)
- Friedrich Merz (German Chancellor) - 20.9% (4.8% very much and 16.1% quite a lot).
This is how this ranking looked in July 2025, according to INSCOP:
- King Charles - 45.5%
- Donald Trump - 30.5%
- Maia Sandu - 28.7%
- Emmanuel Macron - 26.3%
- Vladimir Putin - 15.6%
Regarding "Notoriety," we now have:
- Donald Trump - 97.3%
- Emmanuel Macron - 88.8%,
- Maia Sandu - 86.2%,
- Ursula von der Leyen - 82.9%,
- Friedrich Merz - 53.2%.
Emmanuel Macron
9.6% of those interviewed mention that they have a lot of trust in Emmanuel Macron, while 23.3% have quite a lot, 19.8% have quite a little, and 33.5% have very little or none at all. 2.5% do not know or do not respond.
The groups that have the most trust in the French president are: PNL and USR voters, individuals under 30, those with higher education, residents of Bucharest and major urban areas.
PSD and AUR voters, individuals aged 30-59, residents of small urban areas, and public sector employees are the population categories with the least trust in Emmanuel Macron.
Maia Sandu
11.5% of respondents state that they have a lot of trust in Maia Sandu. 17.1% say they have quite a lot of trust, 16.5% quite little, and 37.2% very little or none at all. The proportion of non-responses is 3.9%.
They have more trust in the President of Moldova than the rest of the population: PNL and USR voters, individuals over 60, those with higher education, residents of Bucharest and major urban areas.
PSD and AUR voters, individuals aged 30-59, those with primary education, residents of small urban areas and rural areas, and state employees have the least trust in Maia Sandu.
Donald Trump
10.1% of survey participants have a lot of trust in Donald Trump. 14.7% have quite a lot of trust, 24.5% quite little, and 46.4% very little or none at all. 1.6% do not know or do not respond.
They have more trust in the American president than the rest of the population: PSD and AUR voters, individuals under 30, those with higher education.
PNL and USR voters, individuals aged 30-44, those with higher education, residents of Bucharest and small urban areas have the least trust in Donald Trump.
Ursula von der Leyen
When asked how much trust they have in Ursula von der Leyen, 4.7% of those interviewed say they have a lot, 19% quite a lot, 16.5% quite little, and 40.8% very little or none at all. The proportion of non-responses is 2%.
PNL and USR voters, individuals with higher education, residents of Bucharest and major urban areas, and state employees tend to have the most trust in Ursula von der Leyen.
They have little or no trust in the President of the European Commission to a greater extent than the rest of the population: PSD and AUR voters, individuals over 45, those with average education.
Friedrich Merz
4.8% of survey participants declare that they have a lot of trust in Friedrich Merz. 16.1% have quite a lot of trust, 10.2% quite little, and 16.7% very little or none at all. 5.3% do not know or do not respond.
They have more trust in the German Chancellor than the rest of the population: PNL and USR voters, men, those with higher education, residents of Bucharest and major urban areas, and public sector employees.
PSD and AUR voters have the least trust in Friedrich Merz.
The research data was collected from April 14 to 21, 2026, using the CATI method (telephone interviews), with a sample volume of 1100 individuals, representative of significant socio-demographic categories (gender, age, occupation) for the non-institutionalized population of Romania, aged 18 and over. The maximum data error allowed is ±3%, with a confidence level of 95%.