LONDON (AP) 鈥� The urgent care doctor cocked an eyebrow at Mari Santos and her American accent.
It was four days after , and Santos was a student with a stomach bug in the first weeks of an overseas semester in Glasgow, Scotland. A doctor arrived to see her after a six-hour wait. But before asking what ailed her, he said this: 鈥淚nteresting time to be an American, I suppose."
Until then, Santos, 20, had not been thinking about Trump 鈥� just her 104-degree fever and concern about being sick while abroad. But the president and she says, were on her physician's mind, giving the American University student an instant education in geopolitics. The lesson, as she sees it: 鈥淭here's a kind of chilling in the air.鈥�
鈥淚 knew that maybe that Europe is not in general big fan of American politics,鈥� Santos said, 鈥渂ut I didn't expect it to be such like a personal thing.鈥�
The United States and its center of gravity occupy a unique space in the international conversation. People the world over talk about America 鈥� its policies, its proclivities, its place in the world. They have for generations. They did it during the Iraq War. They did it during the first Trump administration.
And two months into Trump 2.0, at least in many European and English-speaking countries, it's happening again 鈥� sometimes even more intensely.
People from other countries have questions about Trump 鈥� and trust
Answering for America under the new Trump administration is becoming a delicate experience for some of the estimated 5 million U.S. citizens living in other countries.
From Santos in Scotland to others in New Zealand, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Canada, Republican and Democratic expats alike told The Associated Press in recent weeks that the moment they are revealed to be American changes virtually every conversation to, in essence, 鈥淲hat about Trump?鈥�
At its root, this change is about whom to trust among those thought until now to be allies, in world politics and in life. Trump, known for insisting the , is now the voice of America 鈥� not VOA, the independent news service that told the nation's story for eight decades until he . The president himself has set an example in which trust is almost beside the point.
鈥淲ho do I trust? I mean, who do you trust? Do you trust anybody?鈥� he said during an interview last month with The Spectator, when asked how much he trusts people like Jeff Bezos, owner of The Washington Post.
What comes after the revelation that someone is American, U.S. citizens overseas say, are awkward questions, pauses and euphemisms 鈥� but almost always a reference to America under Trump in 2025.
鈥淏efore this year, the typical follow-up would be asking where exactly I鈥檓 from and what brought me to France,鈥� said Anthony Mucia, 31, a Nebraska native who lives in Toulouse, France and has been overseas for six years. 鈥淭wice now, the first thing someone asked me was, 鈥楢re you glad to be in France now?鈥欌�� He also gets looks that he interprets as 鈥渁 bit of 鈥榮hock鈥� or 鈥榰neasiness.鈥� Almost like it automatically turned into an embarrassing topic.鈥�
What's bending these interactions, expats say, is Trump鈥檚 flurry of orders and statements that have upended 80 years of international order and spooked markets.
He鈥檚 talked about how the U.S. will 鈥渙ne way or the other鈥� , 鈥渢ake back鈥� and make . He wants to , and has to the world鈥檚 neediest people. He鈥檚 falsely blamed President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for and after . Trump has let Europe鈥檚 leaders know that the in facing the Russian threat. And with China, Canada and Mexico.
Not smoothing the American experience overseas is the backlash developing against Trump鈥檚 association with Elon Musk and Tesla, which has fueled growing boycott movements. People are joining Facebook groups to exchange ideas about how to avoid U.S. products. Feelings are especially strong across the Nordic region 鈥� particularly Denmark, where Trump鈥檚 moves have set 鈥渢he Danish Viking blood boiling,鈥� one man .
So far, the interactions are less hostile than wary, Americans overseas say. But anti-U.S. sentiment is emerging as a concern on the cusp of what's expected to be a record-setting international travel season for Americans.
Prepare to talk about 鈥榳hat鈥檚 going on'
Jake Lamb, 32, moved from Colorado to Auckland, New Zealand in 2023. He said says he's 鈥渘oticed a significant shift in the types and frequency of questions I鈥檓 asked鈥� over the past year. Kiwis remain friendly about it, but they've been saying they might have to 鈥渉ide鈥� Lamb or vouch that he's 鈥渙ne of the good ones鈥� if Trump escalates conflicts with former allies. He thinks that the good humor belies wariness.
鈥淚 am concerned that it may become difficult for some not to hold individual Americans responsible,鈥� Lamb, a volunteer coordinator for a charity and who voted for Democrat Kamala Harris, said in an email.
Elizabeth Van Horne, 33, has lived in France since 2013. For years, she said, people would ask 鈥渨hy on Earth I'd come to live in France if I could live in the U.S: 'It's so beautiful, there's so much potential, so much opportunity, like living in a TV show.'鈥�
鈥淣ow, that romanticized image has completely changed,鈥� Van Horne, a Democrat, said in an email. Early in March, a postal worker told her it's sad to watch.
鈥淔or me,鈥� she said, 鈥渢hat conversation summed it up: 鈥楯e suis desole pour vous鈥� 鈥� 鈥業鈥檓 sorry for you.'鈥�
For Trump supporters abroad, it can be complicated
Georganne Burke, a Syracuse, N.Y., native living in Ottawa, supported Trump in all three elections and is the chairwoman of Republicans Overseas in Canada. She's a dual citizen, which makes her something like the Peace Bridge that links the two nations in Buffalo, N.Y.
Trump's tariff war, his manner and his provocative talk about how Canada 鈥渙nly works鈥� as the 51st U.S. state 鈥渉as everybody's hair on fire," she said in an interview. Burke, 77, says she's received threats and had a tense talk with an anti-Trump co-worker. People ask her, 鈥淗ow could anyone vote for him?"
An invitation to speak about trade near the end of March, she says, came with the organizer saying that he was 鈥減retty sure that most of the people will be polite.鈥� Burke accepted the invitation.
She says anti-American sentiment was bad during the Iraq war under President George W. Bush in 2003. But now it's different.
鈥淭hen, it was kind of more on the politicians,鈥� as the targets of public ire, Burke said in a recent interview. 鈥淣ow, it's much more personal.鈥�
Burke's counterpart in London, Greg Swenson of Republicans Overseas UK, says walking around as an American in another country remains more positive than negative. In interviews with media outlets, he readily acknowledges Trump can be 鈥渙bnoxious.鈥� But Swenson, 62, is an investment banker, and he says the president and America remain good for business.
鈥淚n the private capital world, which is not affected by day-to-day (market) volatility, there is just a huge amount of optimism,鈥� Swenson said. That means, he says, that investors want to work with U.S. vendors and customers, seeking American 鈥渃redibility鈥� through 鈥渁n affiliation with the president.鈥�
As for what people overseas think of Americans right now: A survey of social media, neighbors and others shows plenty are curious and concerned. When an American dad posted on Reddit his worry that his family won't be welcomed in Ireland, an Irish dad who asked the AP to identify him by his Reddit handle responded this way:
鈥淎 lot of people like me are really, really alienated and angry at the US and Americans,鈥� wrote MDMB13. "But the good news is we鈥檙e Irish so you鈥檒l never know because (we) bury our feelings in a far-off place and let them fester over decades.鈥� He ended his comment with a smile emoji.
Laurie Kellman, The Associated Press
