“Good people are getting brainwashed”: These Florida snowbirds are fleeing over Trump’s tariffs

In 2021, my wife, Jenny, and I bought a townhouse in the Landings Yacht Club, a gated community outside of Fort Myers. We’re retired and in our 50s—I was a mechanic by trade, and Jenny was a nurse working in occupational health. This bit of Florida seemed to have everything we wanted: a full-service marina, restaurants, lawn bowling, tennis, golf, pickleball—all surrounded by eight-foot concrete walls. We were based in Waterloo, but Jenny had been coming down to the area since she was five years old, and we had owned various winter properties in Florida since 2009. It felt nice and familiar.

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For four years, we loved it. But, two months ago, something started to feel strange. We’d always known not to talk about politics, guns or vaccines with our American friends: you never know who has strong opinions on what, and we didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes. When Donald Trump was elected a second time, I didn’t think much of it. I even defended the guy. “Draining the swamp” didn’t seem like such a bad idea. I was so determined to stay, I even started shopping for a new boat.

Then Trump started turning on Canadians—and Americans were following suit. I ran into one of my neighbours the other day while taking out the trash. He’s a Republican, and he said to me, “We wouldn’t have a problem if Canada wasn’t sending so much fentanyl into our country.” I told him that, for one thing, that would be a problem for the American border patrol, since they’re the ones letting the drugs in. And for another, we know the drugs aren’t actually coming in at all! It’s like George W. Bush and the “weapons of mass destruction” lie. He repeated it over and over, and people believed it. I said all this to my neighbour, and he just walked away. There’s one friend I won’t be getting back.

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And he’s not the only one. We have plenty of American friends here on both sides of the fence, but the Republican ones are behaving like mindless zombies. They watch Fox News obsessively and regurgitate whatever delusional stories Trump or his mouthpieces feed them.

For the sake of preserving our friendships, we try not to talk politics. I was just out fishing with another Republican friend of mine, and we managed to avoid the subject the whole day. We had already gotten into a big argument the day Trump first announced the tariffs. We were both angry with each other by the time we were done, but we got past it. At a trivia night, I told him, “I love you as a friend—let’s not let this get between us.” He’s a good one. And that’s what bothers me: good people are getting brainwashed.

Our Fort Myers community has plenty of fellow Canadians, and there are Canadian flags flying all down our street now. But I won’t do it myself—I don’t want to start anything with anyone. If I did, I’d fly both flags to show that our two countries should be partners. Instead, I’m flying under the radar.

Still, I can feel the locals turning on us. When we first arrived, the area was very depressed. We felt welcomed since we were spending money. I’ve helped people start businesses, telling them that I’ve got 30 Canadian friends on my block who all need pools cleaned and lawns landscaped.

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The roads are busier these days, and drivers are angry. I’ve seen cars plastered with bumper stickers saying, “Florida is full, don’t come in.” Last year, a woman pulled up next to us and screamed, “You people go back to where you came from!” On another drive, a woman gave us the finger. I don’t know what her problem was, but she was screaming at us from her convertible.

I’d love to tell these people to go screw themselves, but Florida is a concealed carry state. Anybody could be packing a weapon, and they like to use them: we hear about shootings all the time in our neighbourhood. We feel safe behind the walls of the club, but when we leave, we stick to big box stores and tourist areas. At the bar across the road from our community, locals have warned us not to stay out late.

Even with all that, we still didn’t plan on leaving this year. But the tariffs were the last straw. The US was already an unsettling place to be. Now it feels like things are getting even worse. I was watching the real estate market soften, and one day Jenny said, “I think it’s time to get out of here.” That sealed it. We put our house up for sale privately, listing for $450,000—$100,000 less than realtors told us we could get. I didn’t care. We were still making a profit, and we wanted out. Within three hours of the first open house, we had a buyer.

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I don’t want to be in a place fuelled by negativity and hate, and that’s what Florida has become. As a Canadian, I’d feel guilty if I stayed here. So, next time we want to get away for the winter, we’re going elsewhere. We’ve got friends in Costa Rica and Mexico, so we’ll visit them. We’re even trying to find non-stop flights so we don’t have to land in the US.

My parting message to our American neighbours is this: don’t piss off Canadians. We’ll say please, thank you and pardon me. We’re the friendliest people in the world. But piss us off and we can be your worst enemy. We won’t fight you, but we will cut you out—no matter how many beautiful things you have for sale.