Canadians have had enough of Donald Trump’s America, and they’re showing it by selling their U.S. property, vacationing elsewhereand severely punishing their own country’s homegrown conservatives. For some bizarre reason, Trump decided to pick a fight with our closest ally—and the consequences are real.
I’ve written often about Trump’s amazing ability to hurt his own supporters with scalpel-like precision, and this kerfuffle with the Canucks is no different. Look at the county-level map of the 2024 presidential election results:
Just note how most of the counties along the northern border are red. Very red, in fact. But thanks to Trump’s buffoonery, places like Port Huron, Michigan, are now struggling with a loss of patronage from their Canadian neighbors across the border.
“Like many of the towns that dot along the 5,525 mile (8,891km) border, the economies of Port Huron and Sarnia are linked and in some ways dependent on one another,” reports the BBC. “Port Huron is a manufacturing town of less than 30,000 people with a quaint downtown and lots of retail, offering visitors an enticing opportunity for a day-trip.”
That “enticing opportunity” is vanishing. Duty-free shops on the Canadian side report sales are down by 50 to 80% since Trump returned to the White House.
“’We’re 100% reliant on the travel across the border,’ Barbara Barett, the executive director of Frontier Duty Free Association, says of those stores. ‘Our stores are often pillars of these communities – communities depend on them,’” she told the BBC.
And yet the locals refuse to connect the dots.
“I hope people in Washington will start to understand what they’re doing to the people,” the mayor of Port Huron told the BBC. “We are not responsible for this, the [federal] government put us in this position and now we have to deal with it respectfully.”
Actually, Port Huron is responsible. St. Clair County voted for Trump 67-32%, for failed GOP Senate candidate Mike Rogers 63-33%, and for Republican Rep. Lisa McClain 67-28%. Down the ballot, it is a Republican stronghold. This isn’t an accidental result—it’s the outcome Port Huron voted for.
Related | West Virginians love Trump—and he’s screwing them anyway
Funny how when a Democrat is in the White House, it’s endless investigations into the “Biden Crime Family” and chants of “Let’s Go Brandon.” But when it’s Trump? Suddenly “the government” is some faceless villain. No names, no accountability. Just vague vibes.
His name is Donald J. Trump—and the very communities he is now hurting happily put him back in power. And it’s the same story in small towns all across that vast border, whether in Michigan, Montana, North Dakota, Maineor elsewhere.
Now, Republican lawmakers—desperate to appease their hurting American constituents—are rushing to fix things with a Band-Aid that doesn’t even acknowledge the wound.
“U.S. lawmakers are proposing a bill that would allow some Canadian snowbirds to stay in the United States longer, in hopes of rebuilding cross-border tourism and supporting local economies,” reported Canadian outlet CTV. “The Canadian Snowbird Visa Act proposes to extend the length of time eligible Canadian citizens aged 50 and over could visit the U.S. without a visa to 240 days, up from the current 182 days that are permitted each year.”
Among the legislation’s cosponsors are Republican Reps. Elise Stefanik (whose New York district borders Canada), Ken Calvert (whose California district includes Palm Springs—a major Canadian tourist destination), and Laurel Lee (whose Tampa district is a major draw for Canadian snowbirds).
Stefanik claims that “providing Canadians who own homes and property in the United States with extra time to visit and boost our economy will help revive Canadian tourism.”
As if the issue is that Canadians just wish they could spend more time here. No. The problem is they don’t want to come here at all. Not to Disney World. Not to Palm Desert for some golf. Not even for a short jaunt across the border to buy cheap booze.
Allowing them to stay here for two extra months is a meaningless gesture that insults Canadians while ignoring the real problem: Trump.
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