WASHINGTON ā Americans are less likely to see Canada and the U.S. as close allies than they were two years ago, the latest indication that President Donald Trump's tariff threats and talk of taking over a neighboring ally are souring a critical economic and military relationship.
The U.S. shift in viewpoint comes primarily from Democrats, though Republicans are less likely to see Canada as Americaās ally now too, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. While about 7 in 10 Democrats saw Canada and the U.S. as close allies before Trump returned to office, now that number is down to about half. For Republicans, the number dropped from 55% to 44%.
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Although most still see the countriesā relationship as at least āfriendly,ā just under half of U.S. adults now consider the U.S. to be āclose alliesā with its neighbor to the north. Thatās down from about 6 in 10 in a Pearson Institute/AP-NORC poll conducted in September 2023.
āHeās turning everybody against us,ā bemoaned Lynn Huster, 73, a lifelong Democrat who lives in York, Pennsylvania. Huster says she has been dismayed by Trumpās actions and how they have affected relationships with other allies, including the United Kingdom.
āCanada,ā she said, had been āour friends, you know, they backed us. And some of the other countries, the U.K., they donāt want any part of us anymore. And itās sad that our countryās going to stand alone if anything happens.ā
The poll comes as Trump has dramatically realigned U.S. foreign policy and America's relations since his return to office.
He has slapped sweeping tariffs on goods made in Canada, Mexico and China, and this week added a 25% tax on imported autos. Next week, he says he will put in place āreciprocalā taxes mirroring the tariffs charged by other nations ā a move he is calling āLiberation Day.ā
Beyond the economic threats, Trump has repeatedly antagonized and belittled historic partners, notably the one with which the U.S. shares a 5,500-mile (8,900-kilometer) border. He has threatened Canada's sovereignty, saying it should become the countryās 51st state, and repeatedly labeled its prime minister āgovernor."
His moves have sparked deep feelings of betrayal across Canada, where the U.S.-Canada relationship had long been seen akin to family. The U.S. national anthem has been booed at Canadian arenas and American liquor has been stripped from Canadian shelves.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, whose party's fortunes have been revived by taking a hard line against Trump, said Thursday that the U.S. is āno longer a reliable partnerā and that Canadians must now ālook out for ourselves.ā
Shaya Scher, 35, a Republican who lives in New Jersey, argues that Trumpās rhetoric toward Canada is largely bluster.
āI think heās just doing it to make them freak out so they can get a deal,ā Scher said.
He believes a deal will eventually happen and tensions will ease.
āI think at the end of the day, theyāre still allies,ā he said. āUnder the hood weāre still allies, and if anything comes up, weāll still be allies.ā
Others, however, were more despondent.
āHeās sabotaging decades of goodwill by having tariffs on foreign steel and foreign cars and foreign flowers,ā said Scott Cunningham, 69, a Democrat who lives in South Bend, Indiana. āTariffs are really going to hurt relationships ā trading relationships, personal relationships ā after being allies for decades. You do something like that, Iām going to remember that.ā
About 3 in 10 Americans see Canada as āfriendly but not a close ally,ā while about 2 in 10 say the two countries are ānot friendly but not enemies.ā Very few see them as outright āenemies.ā
Cunningham characterized the current U.S. relationship with Canada as ānot friendly but not enemies.ā
āWeāre not friends because of tariffs and him wanting to take over the country. Thatās not going well,ā he said. āItās very strained right now.ā
When it comes to the rest of the world, the AP-NORC poll found about half of U.S. adults see the United Kingdom as a close U.S. ally, but only about 3 in 10 say the same about France and Germany. About 4 in 10 say the European Union is a close ally.
Almost no Americans see either Russia or China as a close ally. About one-third say China is an enemy of the United States, and a similar share think this about Russia. Republicans are less likely to see Russia as a threat. Only about one-third of Republicans see Russia as an enemy of the U.S., compared to about 4 in 10 Democrats.
Trent Ramsaran, 37, a freelancer who lives in Brooklyn, New York, said many European leaders of traditional U.S. allies clearly have conflicting views with Trump, particularly on immigration.
āI'm starting to see the pattern there where it seems like all these quote-unquote allies are in favor of having immigrants take over the country," he said. āHis vision is really not the same as these allies. So heās saying these allies are not on the same page.ā
But Ramsaran said heās not at all worried about the U.S. someday needing allies it has alienated, given how much the country spends on defense and high-tech weapons.
āIf America ended up being attacked, Iām totally confident that we do not need the help of our allies to defend this country,ā he said. āWeāve got Tom Cruise. He can teach people how to dogfight in āTop Gun.āā
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Colvin reported from New York.
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The AP-NORC poll of 1,229 adults was conducted Mar. 20-24, using a sample drawn from NORCās probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.