‘It’s very strained’: Fewer Americans see Canada as an ally, research shows

Toronto residents Douglas Bloomfield, from right, his son Phoenix and wife Ame, who are on vacation in Washington, hold a Canadian flag and an ice hockey stick to show their support for Canada regarding trade tariffs in front of the White House in Washington, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)

WASHINGTON — Americans are less likely to see Canada and the United States as close allies than they were two years ago, the latest indication that U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats and talk of taking over a neighbouring 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 America’s ally now too, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. While about seven 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 per cent to 44 per cent.

Although most still see the countries’ relationship as at least “friendly,” just under half of U.S. adults now consider the U.S. to be “close allies” with its neighbour to the north. That’s down from about six in 10 in a Pearson Institute/AP-NORC poll conducted in September 2023.

“He’s turning everybody against us,” bemoaned Lynn Huster, 73, a lifelong Democrat who lives in York, Pa. Huster says she has been dismayed by Trump’s actions and how they have affected relationships with other allies, including the United Kingdom.

“Canada,” she said, had been “our friends, you know, they backed us. And some of the other countries, the U.K., they don’t want any part of us anymore. And it’s sad that our country’s going to stand alone if anything happens.”

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 per cent tax on imported autos. Next week, he says he will put in place “reciprocal” taxes mirroring the tariffs charged by other nations — a move he is calling “Liberation Day.”

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-kilometre) border. He has threatened Canada’s sovereignty, saying it should become the country’s 51st state, and repeatedly labelled its prime minister “governor.”

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.

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 “no longer a reliable partner” and that Canadians must now “look out for ourselves.”

Shaya Scher, 35, a Republican who lives in New Jersey, argues that Trump’s rhetoric toward Canada is largely bluster.

“I think he’s just doing it to make them freak out so they can get a deal,” Scher said.

He believes a deal will eventually happen and tensions will ease.

“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, however, were more despondent.

“He’s sabotaging decades of goodwill by having tariffs on foreign steel and foreign cars and foreign flowers,” said Scott Cunningham, 69, a Democrat who lives in South Bend, Ind. “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.”

About three in 10 Americans see Canada as “friendly but not a close ally,” while about two in 10 say the two countries are “not friendly but not enemies.” Very few see them as outright “enemies.”

Cunningham characterized 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.”

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 four 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 four 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.

“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.”

But Ramsaran said he’s 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.

“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 said. “We’ve got Tom Cruise. He can teach people how to dogfight in ‘Top Gun.‘”

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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.

Article written by Jill Colvin and Linley Sanders, The Associated Press

Colvin reported from New York.