Summary
Donald Trump reiterated his claim that Canada would be better as the U.S.’s 51st state, citing trade imbalances and lower taxes.
He also announced new 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, including from Canada, despite a recent 30-day reprieve.
Canadian PM Justin Trudeau has not formally responded, but a government source said they await official confirmation.
Trump criticized Canada’s defense spending and border security, despite recent Canadian commitments.
Canada previously retaliated against similar tariffs in 2018 before a 2019 trade deal resolved the dispute.
Most of us would rather die than ever become an American. Want a good example of the mood in Canada summed up against our ‘ally to the south’ as of late? Well let me just personally put it this way. You, the United States, are a fucking joke.
To quote an author, Stephen Marche, who spoke on the CBC here in Canada recently… The bold is mine but the emphasis really should be placed there anyway.
They’ve [The US] come off of 70 years of failed wars of occuption. One thing you have to understand about these comments is that they come from a profound weakness that America is really unfamiliar with. And Canada is unfamiliar with America being this weak. They can’t hold Baghdad, I’m not sure why they think they can hold Montreal. But they’re also being kicked out of Niger and you know they are weaker than they’ve ever been in a lot of ways. They are extremely fragile as a country. They have absolutely no solidarity, they have absolutely no unity. They are in the middle of dismantling their administrative state and war is a is a test, fundamentally, of the strength of the administrative state. So I think you should take this about as seriously as you would take the ramblings of a crack addict on the subway. I.e, you pay attention to it and get out of the way and you do what you can but, you know, this is not something to be treated like an actual… this is not something to be thought about. It’s just the ramblings of lunacy.
[…]
I think he’s [Trump] actually managed to make Canadians patriotic for the first time since I can remember. You have to say, he’s the president of the United States but the United States is crumbling. Institutions are falling apart and ‘Who the United States is at this moment’… that’s not a meaningful phrase. You have to ask yourself which America are you talking about, which institutions are you talking about, because they are not under the guidance of anyone, right?
[…]
All he [Trump] can do is destroy. The American stock market is falling, even the threat of this [tarrifs on Canadian goods] has caused inflation to raise it’s head. The American people fired everyone who has caused gas prices to rise almost immediately. They can tolerate almost anything from their political class. War crimes, whatever, but increase gas prices they go crazy for. So it’s just very important to understand that this is spoken from a position of profound weakness.
[…]
America has never been an uglier place to become a part of. <laughs> I mean who would wanna be American at this point in history. They’re about to start killing each other. There is no question that there is a Canadian rejection of American values, the American government and Amreica itself. Why wouldn’t you reject these people? They’re awful.
What a deservedly scathing review of the US of A.
And of most of the people. That “Why wouldn’t you reject these people. They’re awful.” line is based on the fact that a majority of Americans allowed Trump to become elected. Either through actively voting for him or whatever excuse they want to use for not voting at all against outright fascism. First time he was elected an argument could be made that the people who didn’t vote or who voted for him were misled. At this point? It just became abundantly clear that our neighbors to the south genuinely don’t seem to care about anything or harbor a deep amount of hatred or ignorance within themselves.
Review should have gone a bit harder in my opinion. It isn’t just the government or the country itself that is an embarassment. Most of the people are too.
And let me be abundantly clear. If whoever is reading this voted for anyone other than Kamala, or did not vote at all, yes. You’re the awful people we’re talking about. You should really hate yourself as much as we hate you.
As George Carlin said, selfish ignorant people elect selfish ignorant leaders.
Personally, talking to anyone about politics here is unnerving. Most people are in this fog where current events are only an ephemeral storyline that they tune into periodically like it’s a TV drama. Never a big deal, never anything that could affect them or those they care for. It’s a position of privilege, frankly. Maybe some of them are just that dumb. I think a lot of people, though, are scared, either of their ignorance or their powerlessness, so they simply avoid being involved or educated out of discomfort. That’s probably the nicest interpretation I have for my countrymen’s behavior.
Otherwise you are spot on. The uniquely tasteless brand of brash American chauvinism that we were globally lampooned for during the Invasion of Iraq has metastasized. We are long overdue for being knocked down a peg. I wish I could say the fallout from this painful reckoning would stay within our borders, but it most likely won’t. We have a very uncertain year ahead of us, let alone the next five years.
About half of America would join Canada in fighting this tyranny. I think it would be a grave mistake for Trump’s presidency to follow through on these threats.
No they fucking wouldn’t. They would sit at home and watch the Superbowl and clap along like they are right now.
I think you greatly underestimate how many Americans are angry about what’s going on and like our neighbors to the North.
I think I know exactly how many Americans are protesting right now.
That’s cynical. Americans generally love Canadians outside Trump’s bullshit echo chamber. It’s horrifying to watch him shit all over Canada, and only strengthens our shared enemies, which is his goal. Many of us are standing up, contacting our representatives, and saying NO.
“being angry” is like “thoughts and prayers”… it really means nothing.
Only a minuscule part of Americans are actually <insert emotion here> to motivate them to do anything about it… half of those are not even doing anything useful…
Is that the same half that rose up to fight it at home? Because I must have missed that part.
And America would lose. Violently. They may successfully annex the country but they would never win.
If America invades Canada then the only thing that has happened is guaranteed your own demise. You have a border with us that isn’t defensible and we look exactly like you. We sound exactly like you. We are taught the same things as you are and because of your loud as shit TV, we’re plugged into the same pop culture. We can pass every single test to come off as an American.
America invades Canada and guerilla warfare becomes instaneous. You would have to literally kill every single Canadian who has a problem with the invasion because otherwise the extreme Anti-American hatred will only grow and foster until the United States is constantly being bombarded by “domestic terrorists” from a nation that never wanted to be a part of your shitheap in the first place.
People keep thinking about war with drones and tanks and soldiers. If you’re going to another country and trying to pound them into submission like the Americans or Russians? Sure. But it is a very different thing entirely when a fishing vessel packed with fertilizer detonates inside of a port or harbor or when multiple explosives are set off devastating your insanely aging and woefully unprotected bridges and railways. Or those pipelines that go on forever with massive areas of nothing and no one in between. Cause an ecological spill you can’t recover from. Maybe even the power grid that your states have idiotically decided to seperate? We could cripple Texas with a bunch of Albertans. Or we could just go through your farming states spreading weeds everywhere. Start planting Kudzu everywhere across the US. Start burning forests that prevent your dustbowl from reoccuring. You are so fucking easy to destroy.
You guys protect all the wrong things and you do not need to be a terrorist to realize how insanely inadequate the protections would be from attacks within.
I don’t think that many would involve themselves in this war. Luckily, you don’t need that many when your are shitting on neighbors, partners, and other military and trade hegemonies.
To be fair, Bagdad is half a world away. The logistics of maintaining something there is astronomically higher than in the same hemisphere, let alone our next door neighbor.
That being said I’m on team annexation… of Minnesota. Please take us!
Surprisingly I don’t think I’ve seen comments from people who live in Maine, New Hampshire or Vermont on the subject online. I never realized just how close those states are to Montreal.
First we take Wisconsin… Then we take Mich-i-gaaaan
Really looking forward to the day the orange buffoon drops
Beautiful reference and mention of an insightful writer and author … now I have some more reading to do. Thanks!
Cherished my ass. You’ve done nothing but disrespect them since you were elected. The only thing you want is their resources so you can hoard a few 100 mil before you kick the bucket in a few years. Which I find completely ridiculous because it’s not like you get to take money into the afterlife, if there even is one.
Resources is definitely true but it also concerned me a bit that the three countries he targetted (Panama, Greenland, Canada) are all countries that control major trade routes. Panama shouldn’t need to be explained but Canada has St. Lawrence Seaway that goes into the Great Lakes and Canada also controls (with Greenland to an extent) the Northwest Passage that is becoming more navigatable every year.
We also have about 20% of the world’s fresh water, the oilsands and a shit ton of critical minerals.
Aluminium
Tomato, tomahto.
As global warming advances and the vast majority of US farmland becomes to arid to produce crops the land in Canada will be invaluable.
He knows he’s going to the burning afterlife so he’s going to try and pay off the guy in charge.
An invasion of Canada would result in so many Americans defecting and fighting for Canada or not cooperating and probably a Civil War when the west coast states (and possibly New England) secede. I imagine the military leadership would sooner stage a coup than cooperate and invade/occupy Canada. Plus, the entire world would side with Canada.
It’s the ramblings of a senile buffoon. There’s absolutely no one else calling for this (or invading Greenland/Panama) and no support from 80% of Americans — and close to 100% with people of fighting age. Even most MAGA idiots are isolationists.
And don’t forget, basically every major U.S. city is extremely blue. When you look at a red state/blue state map, remember that it’s actually an urban/rural divide. Port cities are especially blue. (Look at Louisiana for an example. A deep red state but Orleans Parish went 82% for Harris/Walz. Good luck winning any war with 90% of the port cities in full revolt.)
It’s horrifying that I could see Greenland being his Poland and Canada being his France.
Russia wants it. They want our mineral rights in our North. They can get that for pennies if we lose our sovereignty.
The 51st state? Hard pass. Canada’s healthcare system alone would collapse under the weight of your insulin price gouging. Cherished state? More like a hostile takeover by a country that thinks avocado toast is a personality trait.
Those 25% tariffs? Cute. We survived your 2018 tantrum—maple syrup exports outlived your presidency. Funny how “trade imbalances” vanish when your golf resorts rely on Canadian lumber.
Defense spending critiques from a guy who tried to lease Alaska back to Russia? Bold move. Our border’s secure enough to keep your conspiracy theorists from storming Parliament Hill.
Stay mad about the poutine tariffs, though.
One thing I despise about the US (gun violence and healthcare inequitability aside) is how it measures the value of everything in money.
It’s culture is a commodification machine. Nothing can just be beautiful for the sake of being beautiful, it has to be made into a side hustle somehow.
Most Americans are married to their jobs and have little work life balance relative to Canadians and Europeans.
There is a remarkable amount of mental gymnastics done by people trying to gaslight themselves into thinking this is what they want, even though most would be happier and healthier with more time off.
I wouldn’t call Canada’s work/life balance good, but it’s still better than America’s.
Haha, I want a t-shirt that says : Stay mad about the poutine tarrifs 😂
He doesn’t treat his own states any good why would Canada fare any better
Hey, uh, if he wants another state…
What about Puerto Rico?
I’d love to hear the excuse against that vs. Greenland and Canada.
Theres a reason why he isn’t making the same threats against Mexico.
There’s a reason he wants to resettle Palestinians before redeveloping Gaza.
Too latino for him, not enough resources.
I’m so tired of this shit.
That’s the point. He has megaphones pointed at everywhere you are, you’re supposed to be tired of it and just roll over. That’s his plan…
With every blast of the megaphone my reaction to smash it increases. At this rate my first bonus is being spent on freedom loot.
I’m amazed at how quickly the US has come close to being on the brink of becoming a rogue state.
At this point, I’m seriously wondering what the Reichstag fire will be that will prompt the US to conjure up an “enemy without,” steamroll several sovereign countries and blockade the Mediterranean and most of the Atlantic.
Internet Explorer meme
Well the veneer of respectability politics scratched. It’s like people getting drunk it’s not that alcohol makes violent, or sobby, or anything in particular: It disinhibits (by anaesthetising the frontal lobe before everything else), allowing already-existing but usually under control tendencies to break through.
What’s in it for Canada? Expensive ineffective healthcare? Why would they go for this?
Reduced quality of life? Greater danger of being shot in a school? Shorter life expectancy? Lower quality food? And imperial president instead of a democratic one?
I’m not seeing the upsides for Canada.
Don’t forget the gun violence
Why would Canada join the US, only to be rewarded with a shitty health care system and a low national minimum wage?
Elon Musk and the nazi sad boys will just dig up cases, where chain smokers having lung cancer getting treatment, etc. In Hungary, some try to divert the anger created by the constant defunding of healthcare (some of which was done by diverting money into building football stadiums “to encourage children to do sports thus be healthy”) to the sick and the disabled…
This is going to be the weirdest part of any history book. People reading and trying to understand why the US suddenly turned on and invaded their close ally of Canada in a failed annexation attempt immediately after watching Russia struggle a similar (though less surprising) annexation of Ukraine, which the US helped fight against.
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Anyone making “thanks trump” stickers for when our gas prices go through the roof and stick it at gas stations like they did with Biden
The problem with “thanks” ones is if they ever do go down…
Best to have “they’re up because of me” perhaps or something similar
We need “Let’s Go Trump” stickers.
Yes they are, I’ve seen them on the egg shelves.
People are making a killing selling them on Tiktok
So, is the US going to nationalize its health care to match Canada’s?
ahhahahahaaha.
let’s just say that canadians will never bitch about paying for parking again.
no
I unapologetically woke up this morning hoping to read that someone took a successful shot at him during the Superbowl.
Put me on whatever list you wish.
This man shits worthless click bait out of his mouth daily, why does media fall for it?
When the leader of the world’s largest superpower dreams of Anschluss of their otherwise allied neighbour, that’s not clickbait, it’s the state of international policy and diplomacy with the leader the US elected.
