Headline: "Make America Hated Again" Trump is reviled from Canada to China. American tourists are paying the price. [View all]

Business Insider headline:

Make America Hated Again
Trump is reviled from Canada to China. American tourists are paying the price.

https://www.businessinsider.com/travel-trump-tariffs-america-international-canada-europe-flights-2025-4?op=1


Jen Donahue can't help but wonder whether a fellow skier took a bit of subtle revenge on her during a recent trip to Canada. Donahue and her husband, who are from California, took a trip up to Whistler, British Columbia, in March to enjoy the slopes. On their very first gondola ride up the mountain, they were seated next to a Canadian couple. While almost everyone else they met on the trip was very nice, the woman in the couple, Donahue said, was "straight mean." She was angry about the US's recent antagonism toward Canada, insisting Donahue and her husband make sure they buy Canadian products while on their visit and expressing dismay at the state of political affairs between the two countries.

"I think they're taking it really personally. She felt, personally, 'How could you do this to us? We've been so kind to you,'" Donahue said.

The woman's husband eventually got her to lay off, but before they parted ways, she gave the pair of American travelers some advice on which ski run to try. "She sent us down the most awful way, and we were like, 'Do you think she did that on purpose?'" Donahue said.

The spring and summer travel season is upon us. It's a time when people are excited to take a much-needed break and head out on vacation, in many cases, to a foreign destination. This year, American travelers are confronting a novel political scenario as President Donald Trump has taken a hostile stance toward countries that have historically been considered strong allies, such as Canada and those within the European Union. He's put in place widespread tariffs. His administration has issued loud public complaints about trade and defense relations with Europe. The president keeps joking about taking Greenland from Denmark and making Canada the 51st US state in a way that seems increasingly not jokey.

For many Americans living and traveling abroad, their home nation turning into a global frenemy is making things uncomfortable. Some are rethinking their travel plans, and those who remain undeterred are bracing for some thorny conversations. In recent days, I talked to tourists and expats about how tensions were playing out in their journeys, and the consensus was that while the situation isn't dire, it's making things awkward. People travel to get away from reality, but this year, they're having a harder time achieving that. As the saying goes, wherever you go, there you are — or, rather, there are your country's politics.

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