Donald Trump threw a temper tantrum for the world to see on social media Tuesday as the trade war with Canada heats up after failed talks.
The president, 80, fired off five posts about the country to the north over the course of the morning, lobbing threats, where he took aim at Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, denied a push against one of its official languages, and repeatedly argued for changing the name of one of the Great Lakes.
Trump’s online spiral came after Canada pulled out of trade talks with the U.S. last week despite the president insisting they were closing in on a deal. The standoff quickly escalated when the president announced new tariffs, and Canada vowed to respond.
“Canada has been ‘Ripping Off’ the U.S.A. for decades,” Trump raged in one post. “They have been charging our Farmers 400% Tariffs, and more. They have driven many wonderful U.S. companies out of business.”
“For 10 years they wouldn’t certify Gulfstream Jets, until I got involved,” he continued, writing about an issue that had been previously put to rest in February. “They wanted 100% of the market for Gulfstream’s Canadian competitor. I deal with many countries, and Canada is easily the most difficult and unreasonable. They feel entitled, but they are not a State, and will be entitled no longer!”
“Over the last 10 years, the United States lost, on average, 60 Billion Dollars a year with Canada. No more!” he wrote in another post.
The U.S. had a $48.3 billion goods trade deficit with Canada last year, according to the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office. But the U.S. had a $27.7 billion services trade surplus.
“I would never interfere with Canadians speaking French! In fact, I have never even thought of doing such a stupid thing. 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!” he wrote in a third.
His post about one of Canada’s two official languages came after Carney on Saturday mentioned what he called the “threats ot the French language” while speaking to reporters in French.
Trump’s trade representative, Jamieson Greer, previously said on CNBC that the accusations, amid escalating attacks, were a “fake story.”
But the president’s posting spree against Canada did not stop there. Just before 7 am ET, Trump wrote that the U.S. was “giving serious consideration to changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America in that we don’t expect to be doing much business with Ontario any longer.”
Lake Ontario comes from the indigenous Wyandot people’s word that translates to “great lake.”
But the president, who previously demanded the Gulf of Mexico be renamed the “Gulf of America,” was not done. Just over three hours later, he posted a map of the region with the label Lake Ontario crossed out and the words “Lake America” above it.
It comes after leaders from both countries have been exchanging barbs. On Monday, Premier of Ontario Doug Ford called Trump a “bully” and a “dictator.” He also said the president could kiss his “a--.”
Trump blasted Ford in a post Monday afternoon in which he said someone needed to get the leaders of Canada to “fall in line” and referred to Carney as a “Governor,” a title he previously tried to slap on former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau while calling for Canada to be the 51st state.
While the trade war and name-calling with one of the country’s closest allies escalates, Americans are struggling with higher prices.
But that has not stopped the president from vowing new tariffs. On Monday, he posted that the U.S. would slap 50 percent tariffs on all cars, trucks, automotive parts and steel on January 1 after Canada announced a set of retaliatory tariffs over the weekend to kick in on September 8 in response to U.S. tariffs.
Between Trump’s multiple posts going after Carney and Canada, he took a moment to also tout his “very good relationship” with North Korean Dictator Kim Jong Un while complaining about another close U.S. ally, South Korea.
