‘Have you posted anything negative about our country on social media?’: Tourists now interrogated at US border to confirm they’re pro-Trump

Donald Trump is doing a better job of destroying the United States than Russia, China, Iran and North Korea combined. He’s cratered the economy, alienated international allies, and treated the Constitution like a joke. But a lesser, though still serious, impact is his ongoing destruction of the tourism industry.

International visitors vacationing in the United States bring in hundreds of billions of dollars each year, but with the advent of Trump, their numbers are dwindling fast. And, frankly, who can blame them? There have already been several disturbing stories of people being dragged away at border control, thrown in a private detention center, and only being allowed to fly home weeks later.

Now it appears that you’ll have trouble getting into the United States if you’ve even been critical of the United States or Donald Trump on social media. A post from Dr. Meenal Viz – a medical doctor and motivational speaker – relates an experience her friend had at the US border. When she landed, she was asked, “Have you posted anything negative about our country on social media?”. And, let’s face it, that will absolutely include criticism or mockery of Trump himself.

My friend recently went on holiday to USA.

When she landed, she was interrogated by ICE. 🤯

“Have you posted anything negative about our country on social media?”

She was let go, after showing them a decoy phone.

This does not bode well for tourism to America.

— Dr Meenal Viz (@drmeenalviz) April 30, 2025

Fortunately, the friend had brought along a decoy phone, showed them that, and was allowed in. There’s actually a lot of travel advice for visiting the US that sounds more like you’re making a trip to North Korea than the land of liberty. Recommendations are that you enable strong encryption, disable biometrics so officials can’t simply show your face to the camera to unlock it, edit your messages and photos to ensure you haven’t said anything anti-Trump, and store documents in cloud storage as they’re more difficult to legally access.

Decoy phones are also an option, though apparently border guards will get suspicious if they see a “blank” phone with an empty photo gallery and little social media activity, and search you for your actual device.

Naturally, none of this screams “come to America for a nice vacation”. Potential tourists are already taking note: in March alone, tourist visits were down 12% compared to previous years. Visits from Western Europe fell by 17% – with German and Spanish tourist numbers dipping by 28% and 25%. Canadians are also staying away, with road trips to the States down by 32%. As a result, it’s estimated that, in total, there’ll be a $64 billion loss due to decreased tourism in 2025.

Given that many trips to the United States will have been booked long in advance, it’s likely that these numbers will continue to drop throughout 2025. This means trouble for tourism hotspots like California, Florida, and New York, as their tourist-focused destinations simply can’t sustain themselves on domestic visitors alone. But the message is clear: if you don’t like Trump, stay out of the USA!