WASHINGTON — A recent poll indicates a decline in the number of Americans who view Canada as a close ally of the United States. This shift suggests that President Donald Trump’s threats of tariffs and discussions of potentially taking over Canada are negatively impacting the crucial economic and military partnership between the two nations.
According to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, this change in American perception is primarily driven by Democrats, although fewer Republicans also consider Canada an ally. Among Democrats, the percentage who saw Canada and the U.S. as close allies has decreased from about 70% before Trump’s return to office to approximately 50%. For Republicans, the figure has dropped from 55% to 44%.
While most Americans still perceive the relationship as at least “friendly,” less than half now regard the U.S. and Canada as “close allies.” This represents a decrease from roughly 60% in a poll conducted in September 2023.
Lynn Huster, a 73-year-old lifelong Democrat from York, Pennsylvania, expressed her dismay at Trump’s actions and their effects on relationships with allies, including the United Kingdom. “He’s turning everybody against us,” she lamented.
She stated that Canada had always been “our friends” who “backed us,” while some other countries, like the U.K., “don’t want any part of us anymore.” She added, “It’s sad that our country’s going to stand alone if anything happens.”
The poll’s results reflect Trump’s significant reshaping of U.S. foreign policy and international relations since resuming office.
He has imposed widespread tariffs on goods from Canada, Mexico, and China, and recently added a 25% tariff on imported automobiles. He plans to implement “reciprocal” taxes mirroring other nations’ tariffs, which he refers to as “Liberation Day,” in the coming week.
Beyond economic measures, Trump has repeatedly antagonized and disparaged long-standing partners, particularly Canada, with which the U.S. shares a 5,500-mile (8,900-kilometer) border. He has questioned Canada’s sovereignty, suggesting it become the 51st state, and consistently referred to its prime minister as “governor.”
These actions have triggered strong feelings of betrayal in Canada, where the U.S.-Canada relationship was traditionally seen as familial. The U.S. national anthem has been booed at Canadian sporting events, and American liquor has been removed from Canadian store shelves.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney stated on Thursday that the U.S. is “no longer a reliable partner” and that Canadians must now “look out for ourselves.” His party’s stance against Trump has boosted its political standing.
Shaya Scher, a 35-year-old Republican from New Jersey, believes that Trump’s rhetoric toward Canada is mostly for show.
“I think he’s just doing it to make them freak out so they can get a deal,” Scher explained.
He anticipates that an agreement will eventually be reached and that tensions will subside.
“I think at the end of the day, they’re still allies,” he said. “Under the hood we’re still allies, and if anything comes up, we’ll still be allies.”
Others expressed greater concern.
Scott Cunningham, a 69-year-old Democrat from South Bend, Indiana, remarked, “He’s sabotaging decades of goodwill by having tariffs on foreign steel and foreign cars and foreign flowers.” He added, “Tariffs are really going to hurt relationships—trading relationships, personal relationships—after being allies for decades. You do something like that, I’m going to remember that.”
Approximately 30% of Americans view Canada as “friendly but not a close ally,” while about 20% consider the two countries “not friendly but not enemies.” Very few perceive them as outright “enemies.”
Cunningham described the current U.S. relationship with Canada as “not friendly but not enemies.”
“We’re not friends because of tariffs and him wanting to take over the country. That’s not going well,” he said. “It’s very strained right now.”
Regarding other nations, the AP-NORC poll revealed that around half of U.S. adults see the United Kingdom as a close ally, but only about 30% feel the same about France and Germany. Approximately 40% consider the European Union a close ally.
Almost no Americans view Russia or China as close allies. Roughly one-third believe China is an enemy of the United States, and a similar proportion hold this view of Russia. Republicans are less likely than Democrats to see Russia as a threat, with about 30% of Republicans viewing Russia as an enemy, compared to around 40% of Democrats.
Trent Ramsaran, a 37-year-old freelancer from Brooklyn, New York, observed that many European leaders of traditional U.S. allies hold differing views from Trump, particularly on immigration.
“I’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. “His vision is really not the same as these allies. So he’s saying these allies are not on the same page.”
However, Ramsaran expressed no concern about the U.S. potentially needing alienated allies in the future, citing the country’s substantial defense spending and advanced weaponry.
“If America ended up being attacked, I’m totally confident that we do not need the help of our allies to defend this country,” he stated. “We’ve got Tom Cruise. He can teach people how to dogfight in ‘Top Gun.'”
—Colvin reported from New York.
—The AP-NORC poll of 1,229 adults was conducted Mar. 20-24, using a sample drawn from NORC’s 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.
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