President Donald Trump's approval rating is 17 points behind Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney as the U.S.-Canada trade conflict deepens, according to data from the Angus Reid Institute. This gap matters because tariffs have become an economic test for both leaders, although Canada’s smaller, export-dependent economy faces particularly direct pressure from restricted access to the American market. The latest trade escalation began when Trump imposed 50 percent tariffs on C$27.6 billion of Canadian goods from August 22, including products such as wine, hockey sticks and cement, arguing that Canada discriminates against American cars, alcohol and dairy.
Canada responded with plans for matching tariffs of 15, 25, or 50 percent on the same value of U.S. imports from September 8, covering sectors including steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper, and electronics. Canada is especially vulnerable because trade represents about two-thirds of its economy and exports support nearly one in five Canadian jobs, leaving businesses and workers exposed if tariffs reduce cross-border orders or raise costs. Statistics Canada said the trade slowdown had “acutely affected” manufacturers reliant on American customers, while the Bank of Canada has described tariffs as a drag on jobs, productivity and living standards.
Newsweek reached out to the White House and Carney’s office for comment via email and website contact form on Wednesday morning. Angus Reid polling offers the most straightforward comparison between Trump and Carney because it measures each leader’s performance using nationally representative adult samples from its panels in both countries. Its latest Carney tracker reading, dated July 26, showed 51 percent approving, 42 percent disapproving, and 7 percent unsure.
That produced a net approval rating (those who approve minus those who disapprove) of plus 9. The Carney tracker is based on Angus Reid Institute online surveys of Canadian adults drawn from its national polling panel; because these are non-probability samples, a conventional margin of error does not apply. For Trump, 34 percent approved and 58 percent disapproved, leaving him at a net negative 24.
His approval had edged down from 37 percent in December 2025 and January 2026. For the Trump poll, Angus Reid surveyed 1,525 American adults online from August 6 to 11. Because it was a non-probability panel, a conventional margin of error does not strictly apply, but the institute said an equivalent probability sample would carry a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
The comparison remains illustrative rather than a head-to-head poll. Respondents live in different countries, and the surveys were not conducted simultaneously. Angus Reid’s July figure suggested softer support for Carney, but subsequent Canadian polls point in different directions.
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