President Donald Trump tore into Canada on Tuesday, branding the United States’ northern neighbor “entitled” and accusing it of being the “most difficult and unreasonable” country to negotiate with as an increasingly bitter trade dispute continued to escalate.
In a blistering Truth Social post, Trump claimed Canada has taken advantage of the United States for decades while imposing steep tariffs on American farmers and harming U.S. businesses.
“Canada has been Ripping Off the U.S.A. for decades,” Trump wrote. “They have been charging our Farmers 400% Tariffs, and more. They have driven many wonderful U.S. companies out of business.”
The president also pointed to a dispute involving Gulfstream jets, claiming Canadian officials refused to certify the aircraft for a decade until he personally intervened.
“For 10 years they wouldn’t certify Gulfstream Jets, until I got involved,” Trump said. “They wanted 100% of the market for Gulfstream’s Canadian competitor.”
Trump then accused Canada of behaving as though it deserved special treatment in its relationship with the United States.
“I deal with many countries, and Canada is easily the most difficult and unreasonable,” he wrote. “They feel entitled, but they are not a State, and will be entitled no longer!”
The president’s fiery remarks came after trade negotiations between Washington and Ottawa collapsed late Friday. Canada pulled out of the talks shortly before a U.S.-imposed deadline that would activate a 50% tariff on nearly $20 billion in Canadian imports.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said his government had negotiated “intensively and in good faith” in an attempt to secure a new trade agreement.
Carney blamed the breakdown on American negotiators, claiming the United States had chosen to “ask too much and offer too little.” U.S. officials, meanwhile, accused Canada of introducing last-minute changes to the negotiations.
Trump has repeatedly attacked Ottawa since the talks fell apart, using a series of public statements to intensify pressure on the Canadian government.
Earlier Tuesday, the president floated the provocative idea of changing the name of Lake Ontario to “Lake America.”
Trump tied the proposed name change directly to the worsening economic dispute, saying, “we don’t expect to be doing much business with Ontario any longer.”
The threat followed another warning issued by Trump on Monday, when he announced that he could impose sweeping new tariffs on Canadian products beginning Jan. 1, 2027.
Trump said the proposed 50% tariffs would apply to “all Cars, Trucks, both large and small, Automotive Parts, and Steel” imported from Canada.
The president capped that announcement with a blunt declaration about the economic relationship between the two neighboring countries.
“WE DON’T NEED CANADA, THEY NEED US!” Trump wrote.
The escalating rhetoric follows the failure of the two governments to reach an agreement before the U.S. deadline. With Canada blaming Washington for demanding too much and American officials accusing Ottawa of making late changes, neither side has indicated that a resolution is near.
