Diplomacy isn't a strength of POTUS 47
Since
entering the White House, President Donald Trump has spent a lot of time
bashing both America’s adversaries and its allies. Canada has not been immune
from such swipes.
Here are the
many shots Trump has taken at Canada over the past couple of years:
1. ’Canada
has been very difficult to deal with ... they’re very spoiled’ - May 23, 2018
Speaking to
reporters as NAFTA negotiations continue to drag on, Trump had choice words for both Canada and Mexico: "Mexico
has been very difficult to deal with. Canada has been very difficult to deal
with. They have been taking advantage of the United States for a long time. I
am not happy with their requests. But I will tell you in the end we win, we
will win and we’ll win big. ... They’re very spoiled because nobody’s done
this. But I will tell you, what they asked for is not fair."
MORE: All Donald Trump’s NAFTA mood swings in one chart
2. ’Wrong
Justin’ - March 15, 2018
Trump hasn’t just dissed Canada, he’s lied to the Prime Minister and boasted about it.
At a
fundraiser meeting in March Trump bragged that he deliberately made up
statistics about America’s trade deficit with Canada in a conversation with
Trudeau, even though he had no idea if they were true.
’The
best country for Trump to be contained in is the one he lives in now’
"Trudeau came to see me. He’s a good guy, Justin. He said, ‘No, no, we have no trade deficit with you, we have none. Donald, please,’ ” Trump said, mimicking Trudeau, according to audio of the private event in Missouri obtained by The Washington Post.
“Nice guy, good-looking guy, comes in — ‘Donald, we have no trade deficit.’ He’s very proud because everybody else, you know, we’re getting killed.
“... So, he’s proud. I said, ‘Wrong, Justin, you do.’ I didn’t even know. ... I had no idea. I just said, ‘You’re wrong.’ You know why? Because we’re so stupid. … And I thought they were smart. I said, ‘You’re wrong, Justin.’ He said, ‘Nope, we have no trade deficit.’
I said, ‘Well, in that case, I feel differently,’ I
said, ‘but I don’t believe it.’ I sent one of our guys out, his guy, my guy,
they went out, I said, ‘Check, because I can’t believe it.’
‘Well, sir,
you’re actually right. We have no deficit, but that doesn’t include energy and
timber. … And when you do, we lose $17 billion a year.’ It’s incredible.”
3. ’Canada
Is Very Smooth’ but Trump’s onto us - Feb. 26, 2018
Trump has regularly claimed that the U.S. runs a massive trade deficit with Canada.
That can be argued several ways, but one of Trump’s stranger trade deficit tirades came in February. At a meeting with governors Trump declared he was wise to Canada’s sly ways: "We lose a lot with Canada. People don’t know it. Canada is very smooth,” he said.
“They have you believe that it’s wonderful. And
it is. For them. Not wonderful for us. It’s wonderful for them. So we have to
start showing that we know what we’re doing.”
4. ’Canada
does not treat us right’ - Feb. 12, 2018
While
talking about a long-awaited infrastructure plan, Trump reverted to one of his
favourite topics: how America’s "so-called allies" have taken
advantage of his country. "Canada does not treat us right in terms of the farming and
the crossing the borders."
5. ’We will
not stand for this. Watch!’ - April 25, 2017
Trump has taken several runs at Canada over the issue of U.S. dairy access to Canada, taking to Twitter to vent:
6. ’Canada,
what they’ve done to our dairy farm workers, it’s a disgrace’ - April 20, 2017
Two months after praising America’s "very outstanding trade relationship with Canada," we were back in the bad books after Trump heard complaints from Wisconsin dairy farmers about Canada’s supply management system. "Canada, what they’ve done to our dairy farm workers is a disgrace," Trump said, in an Oval Office speech.
"It’s a
disgrace. I spent time with some of the farmers in Wisconsin, and,
as you know, rules, regulations, different things have changed. And
our farmers in Wisconsin and New York State are being put out of business, our
dairy farmers."
7. ’Canada’s
health care system is catastrophic’ - Oct. 12, 2016
There was once a time when Trump loved Canada’s public health care system.
That time was in 2000, when he wrote: "We must have universal health care" and "The Canadian plan also helps Canadians live longer and healthier than Americans" But that was then.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump
attacked Hilary Clinton’s health care platform by going after Canada’s
single-payer system. "Canada’s [health care] system is so slow," he said during a debate. "It’s catastrophic in certain
ways."
8. ’We lose
with Canada — big-league’ - June 28, 2016
At a speech
in Pittsburgh, Trump lashed out at Canada—among a long list of countries—for
putting one over on the U.S. with free trade deals. "I like free trade,
but free trade is not free trade, it’s dump trade because we lose with China,
we lose with Mexico, we lose with Japan and Vietnam and every single country
that we deal with," Trump said. "We lose with Canada — big-league.
Tremendous, tremendous trade deficits with Canada."
https://macleans.ca/politics/washington/donald-trump-canada-trudeau-insults/