sandals

After seeing the satirical videos of European countries campaigning for 2nd Place (Jeering Trump's America FIRST proclomations) I wonder if we might be ridiculed as we travel this spring to the Netherlands and Germany and other countries for electing Trump. As we are innocent of having voted for him, we plan to make that fact clearly known if ever engaged in a conversation about it. We wonder if other travelers have noticed any fallout for American travelers since Trump?

historytraveler

Hey, Europeans are savvy. They know that Trump doesn't represent most Americans.Even if you're a Trump supporter, it would not likely influence how you are treated. So, Europeans are arguably more tolerant than Americans.

sandals

I agree, and I hope they stay that way!! I actually cannot imagine someone from the Netherlands or Germany acting that way, but I do wonder if we will be "punished" somehow, maybe by customs or something in countries "we' have clearly insulted.

We were trekking in Nepal at one time, and were advised to wear pins on our clothing suggesting we were from Canada. It had something to do with the Maoists...can't remember exactly. We didn't have any pins and didn't need them, either.

Dukey1

You are NOT "innocent" because you didn't vote for him; there's a hell of a lot you can STILL DO.

frencharmoire

Trump is not totally unpopular in Europe. There are many countries in Europe that are experiencing their own "Trumpian" politics, and celebrities, entertainers and comedians run for office all the time in Europe, and occasionally win. If there is retaliation for American passport holders due to new restrictions on travel imposed by the US, you'll hear about it in the news. At this point, there seem to be few cultures and nations Trump hasn't insulted. Only the ones he still has no clue exist. I heard today he's going to Rome. Maybe the Pope will be feeling charitable and forgive Trump his tweets.

WoinParis

We are not going to pester you because of Trump.
Just be ready to see some satire and some snarky comments (read mine for example). No more no less.
Unless you start saying he is a great guy that NATO should be disbanded, EU dismantled and that indeed Bruxelles is a hellhole.
Or do that after a few beers at least

bvlenci

<i> Only the ones he still has no clue exist. I heard today he's going to Rome. Maybe the Pope will be feeling charitable and forgive Trump his tweets.

</i>

I'm expecting him to tweet about the "so-called Pope".

<i> Just be ready to see some satire and some snarky comments (read mine for example). No more no less. </i>

It's a grand year for satire!!

kerouac

Unless you announce the idea that you think that Trump is the best thing that has happened to the United States in the last 40 years, you should not have any problems and yu will probably receive plenty of sympathy from most people.

But you can prepare yourselves to answer a large number of probably unanswerable questions about what is happening.

sandals

Thanks for making me think about what to say to those unanswerable questions!

I think I will pull out my resume of anti-Trump actions! D.C. March, plus others, meetings, groups joined, calls made, donations increased, etc. Might bring along a few pussy hats as hostess gifts.

Macross

Marie Le Pen is about as bad.
We heard a lot of comments last trip right before the election. Most had negative words concerning both our candidates. I have "permanent resident status" in Canada from my youth so can still claim that. My Dad worked there for a number of years.

I remember seeing them burn an effigy of George Bush in Munich once. It is normal, nothing to get upset about.

There are some rumblings that the Donald can't read or just won't wear glasses. Explains a lot of his behavior. He has never finished a book. Just blows me away.

Democrats are working overnight to oppose that nitwit Betsy Devos. #Holdthefloor

greg

For my upcoming trip in spring, I have changed the itinerary to be more modular to be able to swap out destinations if needed. Like others, I am not concerned about the receptions from the locals. I found European residents to be well informed about world affairs unlike my acquaintances in the U.S. who are totally clueless about things outside their town, U.S. politicians, or the U.S. sports teams. If their trusted politicians/talk hosts say there are man eating dragons in Europe, they would probably believe them without any fact checking. However, I was not sure about the impact of upcoming elections on strikes. I have asked my German and French colleagues at work about impact on elections on SNCF, AF, Lufthansa, DB, strikes etc. Neither of my colleagues thought the upcoming European elections have impacts on union activities.

tedgale

Macross: I doubt you still have permanent resident status if you haven't lived in Canada recently. We have residency requirements for maintaining your status:

"To meet these residency obligations, you must be physically present in Canada for at least 730 days (2 years) in every 5-year period."

Canada's residency requirements, like most other aspects of our immigration and citizenship laws, are extremely liberal. However, if detected, prolonged absence can nullify your status.

marvelousmouse

What Kerouac said. Endless, endless questions. But some really good conversations came out of that and it's mostly curiousity anyway, rather than the cluster@&$# that the topic always devolves into at home.. And also I mostly only ran into it in Britain. I think it makes them happy to talk about another country's unexplainable election rather than Brexit.

I am not a Trump supporter but I'm also not really a Hillary supporter. So no marches for me. Mostly I just listened to what they thought of it and explained what I thought. Or explained the misconceptions they might have had. The people I talked with generally didn't understand American political system or, more often, they didn't understand the different issues that affected the election on a regional level. My parents' reasons for voting for Trump were very different from someone in the rust belt, for example. Anyway- I didn't encounter any negativity, just puzzlement. Europeans really seem to engage in the news more than Americans. I don't mean that we don't read it but I think it's more of a confirmation of bias than actually gathering and discussing information. There was tons of coverage of the inauguration, for example, and that really surprised me. I don't think you'd see similar coverage here of a foreign world leader.

I think generally that frencharmoire is right on, too. The refugee crisis is definitely a hot topic in Europe and really I think I've met a lot more "silent" Trump supporters in both Europe and the US then one might expect. It's not something people say openly but there seem to be a lot of moderates who do agree with securing the borders. They don't want to be painted with the racist brush, so they don't say much, but it's definitely there. Everyone is looking at America and Trump, but the same debate is happening in France, Germany, Britain.

Macross

tedgale, strange you should say that. I am very curious because recently a freind that was crossing the border got held up and they asked them a ton of questions. Long story short, they said he still had his status as he never notified them he left the country. I have a border and customs friend, need her to check me out.
My Dad was tracked down and sent a large amount of money for his social security. He then received his monthly checks till he died. He had moved twice since coming back to the states from BC.

It was called landed immigrant status them. My niece and nephew were born there during this time but live in NY now.

Anyway, I would not announce I was a Trump supporter if you were.

bilboburgler

I think the worst you will get is a little mild joshing.

Radio4 seems to be offering us "explanations" from the Trump tansfer team most mornings. This is down to the "fair and balanced" policy that the BBC offer (Fox take note). The result of being lectured by someone who always "plays the man rather than the ball" is doing them no favours.