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Most Canadians Now Say the U.S. Is the Biggest Threat to Their Country

Before Trump took office again, Canadians viewed China as their biggest threat.

More than half of all Canadians, or 59 percent, now say the U.S. is the biggest threat facing their country. Previously China was the top-ranked threat in Canada, according to the Pew Research Center. But as President Donald Trump has threatened to annex Canada as the 51st U.S. state and started a trade war with one of the U.S.’s most important trading partners, just 15 percent of Canadians now view China as their biggest threat. At the same time, though, a sizable minority of Canadians—or 25 percent—viewed the U.S. as both their country’s top ally and its top threat. Similar results were reported in Mexico: Sixty-eight percent of respondents viewed the U.S. as the country’s top threat, while 20 percent said it was both their top ally and their top threat, underscoring how complex the relationship is between the U.S. and its neighbors. In the U.S., China was the top-ranked threat, with 42 percent of respondents overall naming China. The results differed by party, though, with 58 percent of Republican and Republican-leaning respondents listing China. Among Democrats and people who leaned Democrat, 39 percent said Russia was the top threat, compared to 28 percent who named China.