Trump's favorite brag implodes as experts panic over 'mind-boggling' trend

President Donald Trump reacts as he participates in a signing ceremony in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., January 14, 2026. REUTERS Evelyn Hockst

President Donald Trump is almost constantly repeating the boast that the U.S. is the "hottest country" in the world under his second term, but according to a new piece from The i Paper, expert concerns over "mind-boggling" tourism declines have firmly put a damper on his claims.

Writing for the outlet on Monday, reporter Lauren Trevelyan argued that Trump's brag can no longer stand up to reality, as reports show that the U.S. is one of the only major countries in the world losing tourism as the world continues to rebound from COVID-19 shutdowns. This trend comes despite the country recently hosting the FIFA World Cup, one of the biggest international events around, causing major alarm among experts and analysts.

"America is on track to receive two million fewer overseas visitors than in 2025 (which saw a drop of four million from the year before)," Trevelyan detailed. "Not even hosting the FIFA World Cup could boost the numbers. The lure of the Grand Canyon, Route 66, Las Vegas, the Empire State Building and the rest of America’s famous charms have been overshadowed by Trump’s trade wars, tariffs, jabs at allies and aggressive immigration enforcement. Geoff Freeman, president and CEO of the US Travel Association, described the situation as 'mind-boggling,' telling Axios, 'we’re the only country in the world losing visitation.''"

Breaking down the available information further, Trevelyan explained how the trends in which tourists are no longer visiting the U.S. make the cause of the decline "blindingly obvious."

"Canadians are voting with their feet," she wrote. "In 2025, visits by Canadians to the US fell by about 25 percent, and this year is on track to show similar declines. Apparently, Canadians don’t like Trump saying their country should become the 51st U.S. state, they don’t appreciate having tariffs slapped on them because they’re 'ripping America off,' and they’re taking their (admittedly weak) currency elsewhere."

She added later: "Visitors from Germany and France, traditional allies of the US, are also staying away – down 16 percent and 15 percent so far this year. Trump has claimed that Germany owes 'vast sums of money' to the US, and described various of French President Emmanuel Macron’s remarks as 'brain dead, very nasty.' Early in Trump’s second term, Vice President JD Vance flew to Germany and told the Munich Security Conference that America’s European allies were destroying themselves with immigration and unfairly barring the far right from power. The fiery rhetoric has not gone unnoticed by European tourists, who after all have a choice about where to spend their vacations."

The tourism numbers from the U.K., meanwhile, were largely flat in 2025, defying the downward trend to start. In the first half of 2026, however, "headlines about the deadly shootings of people protesting against aggressive immigration enforcement operations sped around the world, there was a 2.2 percent decline in visitors from the U.K. to the U.S."

"In New York City, where Britons traditionally love to come and shop and take in a Broadway show and a Statue of Liberty harbour tour, the number of UK tourists declined nearly 16 percent in the first six months of 2026, compared to last year," Trevelyan added. "That’s a lot of 'I heart NY' T-shirts, mugs and key rings going spare."

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