by Natasha Lair
Last updated: 2:30 PM ET, Wed October 8, 2025
U.S. President Donald Trump says he believes Canadians will resume travelling to the United States once a new trade deal is reached, according to a report from The Associated Press (AP).
Speaking Tuesday in the Oval Office alongside Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Trump acknowledged that many Canadians are currently avoiding trips south of the border due to ongoing trade tensions and his repeated suggestion that Canada could become the “51st state.”
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“I understand that. Look, I understand that,” Trump said, before predicting that relations would improve.
“It’s something that will get worked out. There’s still great love between the two countries but you know American people want product here, they want to make it here. We are competing for the same business. That’s the problem. That’s why I keep mentioning one way to solve that problem. There’s a very easy way.”
According to Statistics Canada, visits by Canadians to the U.S. fell by 23% in the first seven months of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024.
“The people of Canada, they will love us again,” Trump added. “Most of them still do. If you say only 25%. I assume a lot of them. I think they love us.”
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The meeting took place ahead of next year’s scheduled review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
Trump has said he was open to renegotiating the trade pact or exploring separate bilateral deals with Canada and Mexico.
“We could renegotiate it, and that would be good, or we can just do different deals,” Trump said. “We’re allowed to do different deals if we want. We might make deals that are better for the individual countries.”
Carney had reportedly hoped to secure relief from several sector-specific tariffs, including the 50% duties on Canadian steel and aluminum imports imposed under Section 232.
Trump, who has expressed a friendlier tone toward Carney than he did toward former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, also acknowledged what he called a “natural conflict” between the two countries — a point Carney gently disputed.
“There are areas where we compete, and it’s in those areas where we have to come to an agreement that works,” Carney said. “But there are more areas where we are stronger together, and that’s what we’re focused on.”
Frank McKenna, a former Canadian ambassador to the U.S., said, "This is the lowest point in relations" he can recall.
“I talk every day to ordinary citizens who are changing their vacation plans, and I talk to large business owners who are moving reward trips away or executive business trips. There is an outright rebellion.”
Despite the tensions, both leaders expressed confidence that the relationship could recover.
“We have natural conflict,” Trump said. “We also have mutual love.”
Source: The Associated Press
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