Polls say Americans view Canada more favorably than President Donald Trump, whose feud with the political leaders of Washington’s northern neighbor has intensified in recent days.
By Andrew Stanton
The U.S. and Canada, which share a border more than 5,000 miles long, have been key political allies on the global stage for decades. But that relationship has strained following President Donald Trump’s tariffs and remarks about annexing Canada and making it the 51st state.
The polls have found that favorable attitudes toward Canada have remained high and have been bipartisan. However, polling on Trump’s favorability has been more divided on partisan lines.
What to Know
The spat reignited last week after the Ontario government used an audio clip in an ad of President Ronald Reagan criticizing tariffs. Trump responded by saying he would hit the country with an additional 10 percent tariffs. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has said he would be ready to restart trade negotiations with the Trump administration and that he believed the two countries had made "considerable progress" prior to the ad campaign.
The latest public polling conducted this year found that Americans continue to view Canada more warmly than Trump, whose approval has fallen since his return to the White House in January.
In February, Gallup found that a vast majority of Americans view Canada favorably—89 percent said they feel warmly toward the country, while only 10 percent said they view Canada unfavorably. Their poll has found similar sentiments for decades. Since 1987, no less than 83 percent of Americans have viewed Canada favorably.
At the same time, Americans have been more divided about Trump, according to Gallup polling. His approval began at 47 percent in their polling and has since dropped. Their latest polling numbers from October 1 showed that 41 percent of Americans approved and 54 percent disapproved of his time in office.
That’s in line with trends from recent presidents, as Americans have been more split on their approval. At the same point in their presidency, 42 percent of Americans approved of former President Joe Biden favorably and 53 percent approved of former President Barack Obama. Meanwhile, 88 percent approved of President George W. Bush in the October of his first year in office, according to Gallup.
CNN data analyst Harry Enten highlighted these numbers on Monday.
"Picking a fight with China is one thing. Picking a fight with Canada is just something totally different here," he said. "Net popularity in the United States—Canada is far more popular than Donald Trump is here in the United States. The net popularity of Canada is +49 percentage points. Look at the popularity of Donald Trump in the United States—it’s -10. We’re talking about Canada coming out nearly 60 points ahead on the net popularity rating versus Donald Trump here in the United States. When you pick on Canada as the United States president, you are picking on a country that the American people adore. They adore Canada."
In June, the Pew Research Center found that 74 percent of Americans hold favorable views of Canada, while 34 percent view the country unfavorably. Their polling on Trump’s approval tells a similar story as Gallup. It began at 47 percent but dropped to 38 percent in August.
Lydia Saad, director of U.S. Social Research at Gallup, told Newsweek that when Americans are asked about their views on Canada, they are being asked to draw on social, cultural, economic and environmental feelings—not just about politics. On the other hand, Americans responding to questions about Trump's favorability are addressing one specific person, she said.
No president has been able to have an approval rating above 90 percent in recent history, she said.
While the number of Americans who view Canada favorably remains high, there have been some changes, she said. For instance, the number of Republicans who view Canada "very favorably" has dipped in Gallup polling.
"If we look at the percent saying ‘very favorable,’ that has changed a lot," she said. "Most years, from 2001 through 2016, Republicans and Democrats and independents viewed Canada more similarly. No more than say 10 points apart. Typically, Democrats would be a little bit more likely to say they have a more favorable view of Canada, but they were similar. We saw a sharp drop of Republicans’ favorability toward Canada in 2017."
YouGov in January found that 76 percent of Americans view Canada favorably, while only 13 percent viewed it negatively. On the other hand, the poll found that 37 percent of Canadians viewed the U.S. favorably, while 56 percent viewed the country unfavorably.
It polled 1,091 Americans from January 16-22 and 1,030 Canadians from January 22-28 It had a margin of error of four percent for Americans and three percent among Canadians.
YouGov found that Americans were more split on Trump’s favorability when he returned to office—the week of January 27, 50 percent viewed him unfavorably while 49 percent viewed him favorably, according to their polling. As of October 19, 56 percent of Americans viewed Trump unfavorably while 43 percent viewed him favorably.
The broad favorable views of Canada has also translated to positive views toward Canadian leadership on trade issues, according to one poll.
A Leger poll found that 66 percent of Americans view Canada as a good trading partner for the U.S, while only seven percent of Americans believe Canada as a bad one. The poll surveyed 1,014 Americans from August 29 to August 31 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
That poll also found that 33 percent of Americans viewed Prime Minister Mark Carney positively. That is higher than any other global leader included in the survey. Meanwhile, Trump's approval was 39 percent in that same poll.
What People Are Saying
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told Newsweek: "President Trump is quickly delivering on the mandate imposed by the nearly 80 million Americans who voted for him—including lowering inflation, securing the border, reducing crime, and more. The President is simultaneously calling attention to unfair practices that have long hurt our country’s farmers, manufacturers, and working families, just as he was elected to do."
President Donald Trump told reporters on Friday: "I heard they were pulling the ad, I didn’t know they were putting it on a little bit more. They could have pulled it tonight. Well, that’s dirty playing—but I can play dirtier than they can, you know? Really, very dishonest."
Ontario Premier Doug Ford wrote to X last week: "The people elected our government to protect Ontario—our workers, businesses, families and communities. That's exactly what I'm doing. Like I said earlier today: Canada and the U.S. are neighbors, friends and allies. We're so much stronger when we work together. Let's work together to build Fortress Am-Can and make our two countries stronger, more prosperous and more secure."
