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Norms Impact

Trump has made America hated around the world. Here’s a sign of how bad it’s getting

Tariffs and annexation talk from the White House are chilling cross-border travel, normalizing coercive statecraft against allies for domestic political leverage.

Executive

Mar 27, 2025

Sources

https://www.nj.com/politics/2025/03/trump-has-made-america-hated-around-the-world-heres-a-sign-of-how-bad-its-getting.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=redditsocial&utm_campaign=redditor

Summary

Future flight bookings from Canada to the United States have dropped 70% for every month through the end of September, with April down more than 75%. The White House and President Donald Trump have paired escalating tariffs with annexation rhetoric toward a close ally as the trade dispute widens. The immediate consequence is collapsing cross-border travel demand that threatens U.S. tourism revenue, jobs, and airline capacity planning.

Reality Check

When the executive branch mixes punitive tariffs with annexation rhetoric toward an ally, we are watching power used as a pressure tool that can boomerang into economic retaliation and erode our own stability and livelihoods. On the facts here, the conduct is not plainly criminal—tariff policy and political speech typically fall within executive authority—so a clean fit under federal bribery (18 U.S.C. § 201) or extortion under color of official right (Hobbs Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1951) is not evident without a concrete quid pro quo. The deeper breach is a governance norm: using the machinery of trade and diplomacy to threaten a partner’s sovereignty and punish association, which hardens a precedent that foreign policy can be wielded as a personalistic cudgel rather than a rules-bound instrument accountable to the public.

Media

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Detail

Aviation analytics provider OAG reported that future flight bookings from Canada to the United States are down 70% for every month through the end of September. OAG’s data show the steepest drop in April, with bookings down more than 75%, followed by about 72% in May and about 71% in June through September. OAG attributed the decline to uncertainty tied to the broader trade dispute and noted airlines may discount fares to stimulate demand while facing risk to the traditional “snowbird” market next year if conditions persist.

The decline coincides with President Donald Trump escalating a trade dispute that includes 25% tariffs on many goods from Mexico and Canada and a 10% tariff on Canadian energy products, with some measures suspended or delayed but expected to fully take effect in April. Trump has also suggested making Canada the 51st state and warned of larger tariffs if the European Union cooperates with Canada “to do economic harm to the USA,” posting the threat on Truth Social. The Wall Street Journal reported Canadians are boycotting U.S. vacations and that February flights were down 13% year over year; the U.S. Travel Association warned a 10% reduction in Canadian travel could mean $2.1 billion in lost spending and 14,000 job losses. The Journal also reported the White House reiterated annexation messaging in a statement by spokeswoman Anna Kelly.