'Sense of betrayal': Canada’s anger over Trump’s trade war is 'escalating'
FILE PHOTO: Ontario Premier Doug Ford, wearing a "Canada is not for sale" hat, speaks to journalists at a provincial and territorial leaders meeting in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada January 15, 2025.
For many years, Canada has been among the United States' closest allies and trading partners. But U.S. President Donald Trump's steep new tariffs on Canadian goods are infuriating Canadian officials, from Prime Minister Mark Carney to Ontario Premier Doug Ford to House of Commons MP Chrystia Freeland (who formerly served as deputy prime minister under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau). And Trump's calls for Canada to become "the 51st state" are only aggravating tensions between Washington and Ottawa.
Canadian journalist Kelly Geraldine Malone addressed the anger that many Canadians are feeling during a Saturday afternoon, March 15 appearance on MSNBC.
Malone, a Washington correspondent for the Canadian Press, told MSNBC's Alex Witt, "Canadian officials say, you know, it's pretty clear that he remains committed to this tariff agenda. And there are obviously different levels of ones that are targeting Canada…. So I think Canadians are just looking for answers."
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The Canadian journalist emphasized that Canadians are deeply offended by Trump's "51st state" comments and "escalating" trade war.
Malone told Witt, "I don't know if Americans fully understand how angry Canadians are right now from coast to coast. Like, it is a sense of betrayal. There's confusion…. They recognize that fentanyl is an issue in Canada. Fentanyl is an issue, but generally, it is a domestic supply causing the problem. And less than 1 percent of fentanyl seized going across the border comes from Canada."
Malone noted that according to Canadian law enforcement, more illegal drugs are entering Canada from the U.S. than vice-versa.
"So, there's a general sense of confusion among Canadians about, you know, with everything going on in the globe, why the United States has decided to really target Canada," Malone told Witt. "And I will say that federal officials in Canada are telling Canadians that Trump's team is telling them that his goal is to economically crush Canada in order to annex it. So, that is the rhetoric that's going across Canada, is that they are taking these threats seriously — and they don't find this funny. They don't see it as a joke."
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