Trump’s Fury at Canada Backfires in Surprise Blow to GOP’s 2026 Hopes

The number of Canadians visiting the U.S. fell off a cliff in 2025. It’s pretty clear why. And this fall, the GOP should be made to pay a political price for it.

Donald Trump regularly flies into fits of rage over Canada that seem pretty unbalanced given the positive view that most Americans have of our northern ally—an obsession that even recently led him to threaten to block a bridge project linking Windsor, Ontario, to Detroit. The scuttling of this cross-border transport link would damage Michigan’s economy, so the threat became a problem for the state’s Republican congressional candidates, potentially further undermining the GOP’s chances of holding the House.

Now there’s been another absurd turn in this saga. The Detroit News has a striking new piece reporting that Trump’s aggression toward Canada is hurting the Michigan economy in another way: by slashing the flow of Canadians who cross into neighboring border states like Michigan, where they spend lots of money.

The numbers are significant. Around 10 million fewer Canadians traveled to the United States in 2025 relative to the previous year, the story notes, adding that this is hitting Michigan and other nearby states “especially hard.” The impact on the Wolverine State is particularly acute:

Canadian visits to southeast Michigan fell 30% from 2024 to 2025, said Visit Detroit CEO Claude Molinari.“That’s a large decline in a short amount of time,” Molinari said. “And it’s certainly having a detrimental impact on our area hotels, restaurants and attractions, which have been able to rely on consistent Canadian travel in recent years.”

Canadian visits to southeast Michigan fell 30% from 2024 to 2025, said Visit Detroit CEO Claude Molinari.

“That’s a large decline in a short amount of time,” Molinari........

© New Republic