After sitting together with Prime Minister Mark Carney during Sunday’s World Cup final in New Jersey, U.S. President Donald Trump isn’t letting up on his threat to tariff Canada over wildfire smoke.
Speaking to reporters at Joint Base Andrews on Sunday night, Trump said he has a good relationship with Carney, but the fires need to stop.
He said the fires are poisoning U.S. air, and that maybe Canada should pay damages, or the U.S. should impose tariffs.
Carney and his wife Diana Fox Carney watched the soccer from a glassed-in suite.
With them were Trump, his wife Melania Trump, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
American officials have complained about Canadian wildfire smoke blanketing parts of the U.S., and Trump threatened last week to increase tariffs on Canada due to the smoke.
“I told them. I mean, you got to stop these fires from coming in and you know poisoning our air. Our air has been poisoned,” Trump said Sunday at Joint Base Andrews, near Washington, D.C.
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“If we can help them, we’ll help them. But maybe they should pay us some damages or something, or we should do some tariffs.”
Smoke from Canadian fires has been triggering air quality warnings across Ontario and in multiple states, including Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, New York and Indiana.
Trump last week said he would call Carney to discuss the issue, accusing Canada of “wilful negligence” and claiming a lack of forest management and debris removal is costing the U.S. billions of dollars.
It is unclear under what authority Trump would rely on to impose new tariffs on Canada.
Carney has brushed off the U.S. criticism, saying Thursday that Canada is pursuing investments in clean energy, while the U.S. is actively working against clean energy.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford, meanwhile, said over the weekend that the U.S. detractors have a “very short memory” and spoke about Canada and Ontario’s efforts to support California during the state’s devastating wildfires in January last year.
“That’s what neighbours do. You don’t get on and start threatening and criticizing because guess what? One day, it’s gonna be your turn. And we’re gonna be down there without hesitation to support our neighbours,” Ford said.
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