US-Canada travel craters

Published May 2, 2025 5:50am ET



From heated political rhetoric between heads of state to loud booing at NHL games, all signs say the relationship between the United States and Canada looks to sour in President Donald Trump’s second term. Whether it’s the threat of tariffs or the president’s use of “the 51st state” to refer to America’s neighbors to the north, rising tensions threaten to discourage cross-border pleasure jaunts between the two countries’ citizens.

While Trump makes threats against the Canadian economy and lobs barbs northbound in public statements and social media comments, the mood of the U.S. played an unusually strong role in the April 28 federal election that extended the reign of Prime Minister Mark Carney, the leader of the Liberal Party. Carney and vanquished Conservative rival Pierre Poilievre faced questions from the Canadian electorate about how they would handle the American president with his claims of shaky Canadian sovereignty and promises of economic retribution against a longtime ally. With many voters angry at Trump, both candidates fed that anger, and Carney emerged on top.

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