WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� 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 and talk of taking over 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 America鈥檚 ally now too, according to a new poll from . 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%.
Although most still see the countries鈥� relationship as at least 鈥渇riendly,鈥� just under half of U.S. adults now consider the U.S. to be 鈥渃lose allies鈥� with its neighbor to the north. That鈥檚 down from about 6 in 10 in a conducted in September 2023.
鈥淗e鈥檚 turning everybody against us,鈥� bemoaned Lynn Huster, 73, a lifelong Democrat who lives in York, Pennsylvania. Huster says she has been dismayed by Trump鈥檚 actions and how they have affected relationships with other allies, including the United Kingdom.
鈥淐anada,鈥� she said, had been 鈥渙ur friends, you know, they backed us. And some of the other countries, the U.K., they don鈥檛 want any part of us anymore. And it鈥檚 sad that our country鈥檚 going to stand alone if anything happens.鈥�
The poll comes as Trump has dramatically realigned U.S. foreign policy and America's relations since his return to office.
He has made in Canada, Mexico and China, and this week . Next week, he says he will put in place mirroring the tariffs charged by other nations 鈥� a move he is calling 鈥淟iberation Day.鈥�
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, , and repeatedly labeled its prime minister 鈥済overnor."
His moves have sparked 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 by taking a hard line against Trump, said Thursday that the U.S. is 鈥渘o longer a reliable partner鈥� and that Canadians must now 鈥渓ook out for ourselves.鈥�
Shaya Scher, 35, a Republican who lives in New Jersey, argues that Trump鈥檚 rhetoric toward Canada is largely bluster.
鈥淚 think he鈥檚 just doing it to make them freak out so they can get a deal,鈥� Scher said.
He believes a deal will eventually happen and tensions will ease.
鈥淚 think at the end of the day, they鈥檙e still allies,鈥� he said. 鈥淯nder the hood we鈥檙e still allies, and if anything comes up, we鈥檒l still be allies.鈥�
Others, however, were more despondent.
鈥淗e鈥檚 sabotaging decades of goodwill by having tariffs on foreign steel and foreign cars and foreign flowers,鈥� said Scott Cunningham, 69, a Democrat who lives in South Bend, Indiana. 鈥淭ariffs are really going to hurt relationships 鈥� trading relationships, personal relationships 鈥� after being allies for decades. You do something like that, I鈥檓 going to remember that.鈥�
About 3 in 10 Americans see Canada as 鈥渇riendly but not a close ally,鈥� while about 2 in 10 say the two countries are 鈥渘ot friendly but not enemies.鈥� Very few see them as outright 鈥渆nemies.鈥�
Cunningham characterized the current U.S. relationship with Canada as 鈥渘ot friendly but not enemies.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檙e not friends because of tariffs and him wanting to take over the country. That鈥檚 not going well,鈥� he said. 鈥滻t鈥檚 very strained right now.鈥�
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.
鈥淚'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. 鈥淗is vision is really not the same as these allies. So he鈥檚 saying these allies are not on the same page.鈥�
But Ramsaran said he鈥檚 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.
鈥淚f America ended up being attacked, I鈥檓 totally confident that we do not need the help of our allies to defend this country,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got Tom Cruise. He can teach people how to dogfight in 鈥楾op Gun.鈥欌��
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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 NORC鈥檚 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.
Jill Colvin And Linley Sanders, The Associated Press
