Thousands of Americans vacation overseas each year, and many of them are confronted with a key question when arriving in a new country: How do they feel about President Donald Trump? During his second term, when many of his actions, including wide-ranging tariffs, are creating global friction, some American travelers are reportedly being received in a chilly manner. And some think being American now means having, according to at least one news outlet, the “world’s most toxic passport.”
How are Americans being confronted overseas?
Americans going abroad are “hearing a lot of political hot takes from strangers these days,” said CNN. But instead of a direct query, the topic of Trump “often seems to lurk on the fringes as locals in other countries try to more delicately approach politics and discern how U.S. travelers feel about what’s going on at home.” It may only “come across as a pregnant pause after you tell someone where you’re from.”
“We were having a pleasant conversation at the hotel breakfast. They were very nice to talk to,” traveler Angie Roach, a Trump supporter, told CNN of a recent vacation to New Zealand. Then the man “sort of groaned and said, ‘What about Trump?’” You “start building sympathy because you can be a Trump supporter, but still not like, you know, the kind of bad things that come out of politics.”
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It appears that many Americans are being subjected to these feelings, regardless of their political affiliation. Some travel agents have had clients “cancel or postpone travel plans” amid “fears that they will receive an icy reception in other countries that are put off by Trump, his policies and commentary,” said TravelPulse. As contempt for the Trump administration continues, a “small anxiety is emerging among Americans with wanderlust: how to travel with the world’s most toxic passport,” said Mother Jones.
What can people do when traveling?
Some argue that Americans shouldn’t change anything they do. Most “foreigners know who our president is, especially when he is as headline-grabbing as Trump,” said The Hill. But the “idea that everyday Americans are routinely shunned, judged or made to feel unwelcome abroad because of Trump is a fantasy born of our own political obsessions.” Americans are “generally welcomed abroad. And when we aren’t, it has less to do with politics than with other things.”
Others say that Americans should just be kind abroad, politics aside. Be “more empathetic to people and their surroundings. Be a little bit more soft-spoken,” travel reporter Amy Tara Koch said to Mother Jones. If “you’re going to try to capture something on your phone, then do it subtly, not with this swagger coming from the United States.”
“Any American traveling abroad right now should prepare to have confrontational conversations,” traveler Nicole Hernandez said to CNN. She could “count the amount of times on two hands that I met someone and they were like, ‘What’s your name? Where are you from? Did you vote for Trump?’” Americans should “just be ready for people to push the question. And if you’re not comfortable talking about it, have a response ready.”
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Justin Klawans has worked as a staff writer at The Week since 2022. He began his career covering local news before joining Newsweek as a breaking news reporter, where he wrote about politics, national and global affairs, business, crime, sports, film, television and other news. Justin has also freelanced for outlets including Collider and United Press International.
