New data coming out from the from the U.S. Government yesterday that showed a 10% drop in March of noncitizens arriving at U.S. Airports. And it won't surprise you, probably, to know that the biggest year over year declines were from Canadians, people flying in from Mexico and from Europe. [00:00:17] All right. So as part of the fallout from Trump's tariffs, as well as his incessant provocation of the Canadian people, i.e., his threats to annex them and his accusations that they are funneling fentanyl into our country. ET cetera. ET cetera. Travel into the US from foreign countries, specifically Canada, Mexico [00:00:35] and Europe is down in a very big way. So big, in fact, that, according to experts, the US economy is expected to lose billions of dollars in 2025 and lost revenue from tourism and boycotts of American products. Last month, arrivals of non-citizens into the US by plane dropped by almost 10%. [00:00:55] Also, Goldman Sachs has estimated that in the worst case scenario, accounting for both travel and purchasing boycotts, the US could see a total hit of 0.3% to gross domestic product, which translates into a whopping $90 billion loss. [00:01:12] So 0.3% doesn't sound like a lot, but it's $90 billion according to the International Trade Administration or the ITA. The US took in a record $254 billion last year from international travelers. And prior to all of this Trump drama that we're experiencing right now, projections [00:01:31] for 2025 and 2026 were expected to meet and then exceed pre-pandemic levels of travel from non-citizens. And we're already starting to see the effects starting to play out. In March, hotel rates and airfares and car rental costs. [00:01:47] Those all dropped, and the northeast was hit particularly hard, presumably because Canadians aren't visiting that region anymore. So looking ahead to this summer, Canadian flight reservations to the US are down 70% through September compared to the same period last year. [00:02:05] And Europe to US bookings are down 25%. Reports of longer wait times at customs and immigration, as well as stories of detentions like harsh detentions of European travelers in American airports, could also be contributing to these declines. [00:02:21] Declining air sales and business travel also looks to be impacted. It's not just pleasure travel. So let's look at that. But we've also recently seen moves in corporate travel start to show up. We reported last night and yesterday afternoon that Aimco, [00:02:40] the Alberta pension fund, has told its staff that it will be curbing trips to the US. They'll be able to go for some reasons, but not for like conferences and speaking engagements. And last night we reported that the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, a pretty major research hospital in Canada, [00:02:57] has advised the staff not to go to the US and has given them all sorts of advice about what to do if they do have to go to the US. In terms of like, you know, cleaning up their laptop and taking, you know, a burner phone that doesn't have your personal data on it. It's somewhat hard to believe we're talking about this [00:03:14] in the realm of Canadian US travel, but but that's where we are. And as long as people remain concerned, it's likely these numbers are going to be soft. Well, I think this is really sad. I love Canada, I love visiting Canada. [00:03:29] I go to Canada a lot actually, because I have a lot of family there and was I'm originally from Connecticut, and so when I was younger we used to just drive up to Toronto all the time. I've seen Niagara Falls so many times, like more times than anyone needs to see this one particular waterfall. But I've been to Niagara Falls so many times and it is sad, but I can't say [00:03:48] that I blame the Canadians for not wanting to come to the United States anymore. The reasons as to why all of this is happening is very obvious, but was do you think that Trump considered that this might happen, that this might be like a side effect when he was rolling out all these tariffs and bullying other countries, especially when he was antagonizing the Canadians [00:04:07] like they're they're right there. Why would you be so mean to them? And it's such a beautiful country, too. Or do you think this is just part of, like the short term pain before we get to see the long term gain that he keeps promising us? No, he didn't consider it. And no, nobody on his team pushed back. [00:04:24] Stephen Miller is in charge of his immigration regime. Right. Like this guy is a maximalist, you know, anti-immigration person. So no, nobody brought this to attention. I don't think Trump actually gives a damn about any of this. I think he does have some level of racial resentment, anti-immigration, [00:04:43] like an instinct for that. But I don't think he cares about this stuff as much as he does the tariffs. Like he's been talking about tariffs for 40 years, literally since the 80s. He's back then he was complaining about the Japanese allegedly ripping us off because Americans prefer Toyota and Honda to freaking, I don't know, [00:05:01] Saturn or whatever. Right. And so I don't think anybody told him this. And as far as like Canadians and Mexicans, okay, first of all, Canada, like our country, is a very multicultural country. Treat. [00:05:16] If you find out that these idiots are just grabbing people off the street who might be Palestinian, or who might vaguely be, Middle Eastern and against or be accused of being anti the Israeli government's [00:05:33] regime in the Gaza Strip. And you can get snatched up, put in some freaking holding cell and be treated like some damn criminal. Why the hell would you come to America now? If you are white bread, you probably got nothing to worry about. [00:05:50] But at the same time, like, again, Canada is a very multicultural and diverse country. Same for Mexico. These are brown people. They're rounding up Venezuelans in El Salvadorians and Mexicans. [00:06:06] Okay? They're rounding up people that they identify as vaguely Hispanic or Latin. And just what have you get mistaken for? Salvadorian and you're Mexican and they send you to literally a gulag where dudes are beating you up and starving you to death. [00:06:24] Why the hell would you voluntarily come up here to vacation at that? It is very dangerous to travel to this country now and a lot. There's been a lot of reports specifically for international travelers coming from Europe, from France and Germany, who said that they've [00:06:40] been harassed in American airports. Who wants to deal with that? Who doesn't have to deal with it? And also, you know, I don't I would say that I don't think Trump really consider the loss of international tourist money as much as he probably should have, because I feel like, you know, he's he's so arrogant that he's like, [00:06:56] well, of course they'll come. Of course they'll still want to come here. This is the greatest country in the world. So anyway, was are you back? Yeah. I'm here. Okay. Do you want to finish your thought? Yeah. I'm just saying, like, you know, as a Haitian American, if they were rounding up a bunch of Jamaicans, even if I'm not Jamaican, I'd be like, [00:07:11] damn, I'm pretty adjacent to that. Like, I would not be coming to this country, like, straight up. If you're a Mexican person and you're not coming here to make money, you're coming here to spend money in our economy. Enjoy yourself. Vacation, sightsee, enjoy some of the beautiful things [00:07:30] our great country has to offer. And you hear they rounded up Salvadorans rounding up Venezuelans. No due process treating anybody as if they're hardened criminals. Hell, no. I'm staying my ass where I'm at. Sorry. Yeah, no, I definitely get that. I mean, I'm a brown woman. [00:07:49] - My family. - Like, so. See, like, it's weird, you know, because, like, I was born in Connecticut. My family's from Guyana in South America, you know? So it's like I'm not Middle Eastern. I'm not anything that, like, would turn up on a terrorist watch list, but I look like what I look like because I'm Indian, you know? [00:08:06] - Hey, man, keep your papers close. - You know, like these racist people. Like they're not the most, like, geographically, historically intelligent. Also, that's in my own experience. You know, if you're going to be racist, like, you're probably just like, you don't know what you're talking about. Every time you ring the bell below, an angel gets his wings. [00:08:23] Totally not true. But it does keep you updated on our live shows.