Amidst a “rebellion” by Canadian travellers against travelling to the U.S., Donald Trump is predicting that Canadians will travel south of the border again after a trade deal between the two countries is ultimately reached.
Commenting in the Oval Office while meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney earlier this week, Trump said that he understands why many Canadians are refusing to visit.
“I understand that. Look, I understand that,” Trump said before predicting Canada and the U.S. would ultimately reach a deal. “It’s something that will get worked out. There’s still great love between the two countries, but you know American people want product here, they want to make it here. We are competing for the same business. That’s the problem. That’s why I keep mentioning one way to solve that problem. There’s a very easy way.”
Trump has often said that Canada could avoid tariffs by becoming the 51st state. The repeated jabs about the U.S. acquiring Canada have alienated many Canadian travellers.
“The people of Canada, they will love us again,” Trump said. “Most of them still do. If you say only 25%. I assume a lot of them. I think they love us.”
“It’s not bad. They’ll come back,” Carney told Trump.
Relations with Canada’s southern neighbour, however, are at a low point.
Trump’s talk of making Canada the 51st state to avoid tariffs has infuriated Canadians, who are cancelling trips to the U.S. in big numbers. There’s been a 23% drop in Canadian visits to the U.S. in the first seven months of the year versus the same period in 2024, according to Canada’s national statistical office.
“We’ve had ups and downs, but this is the lowest point in relations that I can recall,” said Frank McKenna, a former Canadian ambassador to the United States.
“I talk every day to ordinary citizens who are changing their vacation plans, and I talk to large business owners who are moving reward trips away or executive business trips,” McKenna said. “There is an outright rebellion.”
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