HALIFAX 鈥� After placing a framed photo of U.S. President Donald Trump on a table, Matthew Burke steps back and takes a mighty swing with a baseball bat. Glass shatters as the frame explodes. The obliterated image vanishes.
Satisfied with his effort, the 14-year-old 鈥� dressed in dark coveralls, a paintball mask and body armour 鈥� high-fives his older sister and mother.
Welcome to the Rage Room in Halifax, where clients have been lining up to take part in the "SMASH The Tariffs Special Event."
With the purchase of a regular smash room package, such as "Anger Management," or "Parental Leave," every patron gets a free Trump picture to destroy at will. Framed photos of Vice-President JD Vance and Tesla CEO Elon Musk cost an extra $5, with proceeds going to local food banks.
When asked why he wanted to take a swing at the president's picture, Burke said: "It's about how he's treating this country." The lanky boy then shuffled across the windowless room, its wooden floor covered in glass shards, broken dishes and smashed pottery.
His 17-year-old sister, Lillian, used a golf club to thrash her photo of the U.S. commander-in-chief with 13 direct hits.
"I came here to safely get some frustration and anger out," she said, her voice muffled by the plastic mask. "He is not a very smart man and he is currently doing some not very smart things."
Terry LeBlanc, owner of Rage Room Halifax, says he's been hearing how people are feeling anxious and upset in the wake of Trump's on-again, off-again tariffs and his threats to annex Canada through economic force.
"It's actually been a bit overwhelming, the response," LeBlanc said in an interview Friday. "But it's been great. It really shows that Canadians don't want to be the 51st state."
LeBlanc, CEO of the Rage Room for almost seven years, said the rooms allow people to relieve stress in a safe, healthy way 鈥� and his customers don't have to clean up the mess.
Typically, the items offered up for destruction include dishes, glassware, home appliances, big-screen TVs and various electronics, all of them discarded from local thrift stores. Much of the battered waste left after the mayhem is shipped off for recycling.
A basic bashing session 鈥� "Smash It 101" 鈥� costs $49.
Rage rooms, also known as anger rooms or smash rooms, have been around for several years. While their use is often described as a recreational, self-help activity, some research has suggested they may do more harm than good.
"Studies have found that physical outbursts of aggression teach your body to respond to feelings of stress, anger and frustration with violence," according to an article posted earlier this month on website Verywell Mind, which is overseen by a board comprised of mental health professionals.
The article cites the work of three researchers whose 2019 paper, "Explosive matters: does venting anger reduce or increase aggression?" was published in the "Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma."
Still, LeBlanc says there's no disputing how his clients are feeling when they leave the rage rooms.
"Most people who walk out of here have a big smile on their face," said LeBlanc, a burly man with a long, salt-and-pepper beard, who used to work in the glass business. "We always like to ask what was their favourite thing to do. Lately, smashing Donald Trump has been number 1."
Still, LeBlanc says he's not terribly interested in politics or psychoanalyzing why people are keen to bash Trump's image.
"We're entertainment first," he said. "We're not therapists. We're not doctors. People come here to have some fun and blow off some steam .... Everybody wins."
Over the years, people from all walks of life have entered one of his small, battered rooms to let loose. He recalled a chief executive from a major insurance firm showing up one day in a tailored, pinstriped suite.
"He wanted to smash a teacup and teapots," LeBlanc said with a snicker. "He was British .... There's something about breaking something that, at one time, grandma would have said, 'No, don't touch that.'"
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 15, 2025.
Michael MacDonald, The Canadian Press
