In case you haven’t noticed, Canada and the United States are fighting again.
After more than a year of tariffs, insults, and boycotts, the neighbouring countries were close to reaching a new trade agreement over the weekend.
That ultimately fell through for a number of reasons — one of which, according to Prime Minister Mark Carney, was that President Donald Trump’s administration made last-minute changes that included threats against Quebec’s culture and use of the French language.
Now, Trump is firing back. In a series of Truth Social posts on Tuesday morning, Trump addressed his sentiments about Canada and Carney’s claims about his treatment of Quebec.
“I would never interfere with Canadians speaking French! In fact, I have never even thought of doing such a stupid thing,” he wrote. “This lie was made up by a weak and ineffective Prime Minister in an attempt to gain political support, which he has totally lost, from the people of Quebec. I love French Canadians!”
That wasn’t the only shot he took Tuesday morning. In the same breath, Trump floated renaming Lake Ontario to “Lake America,” writing that the U.S. doesn’t “expect to be doing much business with Ontario any longer.”
The Lake Ontario post followed an earlier one from Monday afternoon, where Trump went after Ontario Premier Doug Ford directly, calling him “the less charismatic, intelligent, and overall unimpressive brother of the late, great, Rob Ford.” He wrote that America has been “carrying Canada for decades,” claimed Canada’s unemployment rate is “now at 10%, and rapidly rising,” and said Canada would face “far WORSE” consequences if it didn’t “fall in line,” pointing to the electricity, oil and gas that flows through the U.S. on its way to Canadian consumers.
That came on the heels of a Monday morning post announcing new tariffs. Starting January 1, 2027, Trump says tariffs on all cars, trucks, automotive parts and steel from Canada will jump to 50%, while anything built in the U.S. will face zero tariffs. He described Canada as one of the “worst Nations in the World to deal with” on trade, and wrote that Canada does “95% of their business with the U.S., with us, the exact opposite.”
An Angus Reid poll taken over the weekend found that 76% of Canadians, and 85% of Quebecers specifically, believe Canada made the right call walking away from the table.
Trade talks were suspended Friday after Canada accused the U.S. of tacking on unacceptable last-minute demands to a deal both sides had already agreed to days earlier. The U.S. responded by imposing new tariffs on Canada Saturday, and Carney’s cabinet is expected to announce Canada’s retaliatory tariffs sometime Tuesday.