Trump Now Wants to Tariff Canada Over the Wildfires
Trump Now Wants to Tariff Canada Over the Wildfires
Donald Trump appears to believe Canada sent wildfire smoke to the United States on purpose.
President Donald Trump and other Republicans are threatening retaliation against Canada for the wildfires ravaging Ontario, smoke from which has caused hazardous air quality in a significant swath of the United States this week.
On Truth Social Friday afternoon, the president accused Canada of “Willful Negligence,” vowing to add billions of dollars to existing tariffs against Canada to make up for the wildfires’ cost to the U.S.
“We are holding Canada responsible for the fact that they are not properly maintaining their Forests, and Brush therein,” the president wrote, “and the United States is being unnecessarily invaded by filthy, polluted, and unhealthy air.” Trump vowed to contact Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Trump was joining a growing chorus of angry Republicans. Earlier Friday, GOP Senator Bernie Moreno of Ohio proposed a bill to slap Canada with sanctions “in response to transboundary wildfire smoke affecting the United States,” which he called an “atrocity.” Before that, three Republican congressmen representing Michigan penned a letter warning Carney to take “immediate action.”
Pete Hoekstra, the U.S. ambassador to Canada who also hails from Michigan, has sung a more temperate tune. On Wednesday, he described the more than 800 ongoing Canadian wildfires as “a shared challenge” that “demands a shared response.”
“I commend the outstanding cooperation between the United States and Canada as we confront these fires together,” Hoekstra said in a statement. “Our two governments are monitoring and sharing information in real time—coordination that reflects our partnership at its best.… This challenge knows no borders.”
Some obvious wrinkles plague MAGA’s blame-Canada narrative: A primary driver of the devastating wildfires is climate change, which Trump dismisses as a “con job.” Research shows that the United States is culpable for $10 trillion in climate damages globally since 1990. And Trump has systematically rolled back federal clean air protections while in office.
ICE Contractor Arrested After Shooting Protester Who Was Walking Away
Brandon Booth, 42, has been booked on suspicion of murder.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has yet more blood on its hands.
An employee at an ICE detention facility in Aurora, Colorado, shot a protester Thursday evening, Aurora Police Department shared in a written news release. The woman was hit in her lower body but is expected to survive.
The suspected shooter is Brandon Booth, a 42-year-old who works for ICE contractor GEO Group. Moments before the violent incident, Booth and other facility employees were waiting in their cars on Nome Street, reportedly unable to enter the detention center due to an anti-ICE protest, according to local law enforcement. Police say that two women broke off from the demonstration, verbally confronted Booth, took photos of his car, and walked away.
But Booth wouldn’t let........
