--- title: John McCain: Donald Trump Global Leadership Worse Than Obama description: John McCain said America's standing in the world was better under former President Barack Obama than it is now under President Donald Trump. canonical: https://time.com/4814684/john-mccain-barack-obama-donald-trump/ author: Emily Weyrauch article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-06-12T15:20:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T16:06:15.335Z article:section: Politics og:title: John McCain Says U.S. Leadership Was Better Under Obama Than Trump og:description: "They are not sure of American leadership" og:url: https://time.com/4814684/john-mccain-barack-obama-donald-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4ebde2b56ab5e800/6988d1378fd2eecb213577b6/gettyimages-673467348.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: McCain_Capitol og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: John McCain Says U.S. Leadership Was Better Under Obama Than Trump twitter:description: "They are not sure of American leadership" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4ebde2b56ab5e800/6988d1378fd2eecb213577b6/gettyimages-673467348.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # John McCain Says U.S. Global Leadership Was Better Under Obama Than Trump by [Emily Weyrauch](https://time.com/author/emily-weyrauch/) ## Emily Weyrauch Jun 12, 2017 3:20 PM UTC  Senator John McCain departs the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC on April 26. Senator John McCain departs the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC on April 26.Win McNamee—Getty Images by [Emily Weyrauch](https://time.com/author/emily-weyrauch/) ## Emily Weyrauch Jun 12, 2017 3:20 PM UTC Arizona Republican Sen. [John McCain](http://time.com/4811311/john-mccain-james-comey-testimony/) said in a new interview that America’s standing in the world was better under [former President Barack Obama](http://time.com/4808883/obama-trudeau-memes/) than it is now under [President Donald Trump](http://time.com/donald-trumps-suite-of-power/). McCain, Obama’s 2008 opponent who remained a vocal critic during his presidency, [asked by _The Guardian_](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/11/donald-trump-foreign-policy-approach-qatar) whether U.S. standing in the world was better under Obama. “As far as American leadership is concerned, yes,” McCain said. He was also critical of Trump’s Twitter attacks against London Mayor Sadiq Khan following the recent terrorist attack in the city. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/871725780535062528) McCain said Trump sent the message to the [United Kingdom](http://time.com/4709365/london-united-kingdom-parliament-attack-photos-westminster-bridge/) that, “America does not want to lead.” “They are not sure of American leadership, whether it be in Siberia or whether it be in Antarctica,” McCain said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4814684/john-mccain-barack-obama-donald-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4814684/john-mccain-barack-obama-donald-trump/"},"headline":"John McCain Says U.S. Global Leadership Was Better Under Obama Than Trump","datePublished":"2017-06-12T15:20:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T16:06:15.335Z","description":"He was also critical of Trump's Twitter attacks against London Mayor Sadiq Khan","url":"https://time.com/4814684/john-mccain-barack-obama-donald-trump/","keywords":["Foreign Policy","Congress","Barack Obama","John McCain","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4ebde2b56ab5e800/6988d1378fd2eecb213577b6/gettyimages-673467348.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Emily Weyrauch","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/emily-weyrauch/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4ebde2b56ab5e800/6988d1378fd2eecb213577b6/gettyimages-673467348.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"McCain_Capitol","caption":"Senator John McCain outside the U.S. Capitol.","creditText":"Win McNamee—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/foreign-policy/","name":"Foreign Policy"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4814684/john-mccain-barack-obama-donald-trump/","name":"John McCain Says U.S. Global Leadership Was Better Under Obama Than Trump"}}]}] ```