Donald Trump’s arrival in power could contribute to a new global crisis, according to respondents
A war, especially if it is global, is the biggest fear of the Portuguese in 2025, at a time when the world is preparing to see Donald Trump take office as president of the United States and the provocations coming from Russia have increased in tone, without forgetting the latent conflict between the Koreas and China’s ambition towards Taiwan.
According to research carried out by Pitagórica for TVI, CNN Portugal, TSF, JN and O Jogo, one in three Portuguese people fear a military conflict on a global scale. The same is to say that 35% of those interviewed have a World War III as their biggest fear for the year that is now beginning.
Perhaps also due to the cascading effects that this could cause, the other concerns of the Portuguese largely involve the economy. An economic crisis or recession, a scenario that would almost certainly be in a world war context, is the second biggest concern, and unemployment and inflation/price increases are also among the most common responses.
In between, and not related to war, are health-related responses, which address the more private forum, but also demonstrate a concern with the State’s response. Thus, personal health problems and a possible collapse of the National Health Service (SNS) are also at the top of the concerns.
| War/world war | 35% |
| Economic crisis/recession | 9% |
| Personal health problems | 6% |
| Unemployment | 6% |
| Colapso do SNS | 6% |
| Inflation/price rise | 5% |
| Others | 24% |
| Does not mention any | 9% |
In the opposite direction, and echoing the concerns, the Portuguese have, above all, hope for peace.
Making their fears come true, respondents to this survey see Donald Trump as the key factor for 2025. In fact, 42% consider it at least likely that the next president of the United States will contribute to the creation of a new global crisis. Recent statements such as those made about Greenland, Canada or Panama have not helped to calm tempers.
Technical sheet
Research carried out by Pitagórica for TVI, CNN Portugal, TSF, JN and O Jogo, with the aim of evaluating the opinion of the Portuguese on topics related to the presidential elections and current affairs in the country. The fieldwork took place between December 28, 2024 and January 5, 2025, 400 telephone interviews were collected corresponding to a maximum margin of error of +/- 5.00% for a confidence level of 95.5 %.
The sample was collected randomly from registered Portuguese voters and was duly stratified by gender, age and region. The response rate was 65.36% and the technical direction of the study is the responsibility of Rita Marques da Silva.
The complete technical file, as well as all the results, were deposited with the Social Communication Regulatory Entity, which will make them available for online consultation.
