On Tuesday, just before implementing a 25% tariff on Canada and Mexico, U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly rejected a call from Prime Minister Trudeau.
According to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on Thursday, their subsequent phone call after the imposed tariffs turned hostile, with insults and swearing.
Trudeau attempted to reach Trump on Tuesday, just hours before the tariffs took effect, but Trump did not answer the call.
On Wednesday, after the tariffs were imposed, Trump spoke with Trudeau for 50 minutes.
During this call, Trump criticized Canada’s insufficient response to the fentanyl issue, which he cited as the reason for the tariffs. Yet, he later stated on social media that the phone call ended on a relatively friendly note.
However, the WSJ cited sources and reported that the two leaders’ conversation was intense and included swearing.
Analysts suggest that Trump’s confrontation with Trudeau demonstrates that he is serious about tariff issues within his administration. As explained by the WSJ, the prevailing logic is that Trump imposed tariffs on Mexico and Canada to reset trade relations before renegotiating the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
According to the WSJ, Canadian government officials expected progress in negotiations with the U.S. before Trump activated the tariffs and hoped Trump’s advisors would recommend delaying the tariff imposition. However, these hopes evaporated, confirming that “the only person who can speak for Trump is Trump himself.”
Canadian officials, for example, stated that even Trump’s aides appeared unaware of his plans.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford visited Washington several times last month and noted that all the Trump aides he met seemed unaware of the president’s strategy. He criticized Trump, saying, “We’ve seen this pattern; the goalposts change constantly.”
