AFRICA
U.S. Official Says “there’s a special place in hell” For Justin Trudeau
The relationship between the Trump administration and several U.S. allies has grown increasingly tense over the past couple of months. Recently, the U.S. and Canada have been having trouble because of the U.S’s tariff plan for trade in Canada. This lead to harsh words exchanged between the countries’ governments.
Tensions have only gotten worse after some U.S officials claimed that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had betrayed the countries’ relations by stating its plan to implant retaliatory tariffs. National Economic Council director Larry Kudlow stated that the man “really kind of stabbed us in the back.”
To make matters worse, White House adviser Peter Navarro went on Fox News this past Sunday and made some troubling comments. There, he stated: “There’s a special place in hell for any foreign leader that engages in bad-faith diplomacy with President Donald J. Trump and then tries to stab him in the back on the way out the door, and that’s what bad-faith Justin Trudeau did with that stunt press conference.”
Trudeau was repeatedly asked about the comments and decided to respond in a level-headed way, stating that Canada does not engage in attacks towards a specific individual.
This is yet another step in the ongoing U.S. ‘trade war’ with other G-7 members and China. The United States’ tariff-based plan was designed as a response to what the White House has described as unfair trade practices from the involved countries. The U.S had recently stated its decision of raising tariffs up to 25% for steel and 10% for aluminum to the E.U., Canada and Mexico. The country’s G-7 allies, in response, stated that the U.S.’ decision “[undermines] open trade and confidence in the global economy.”
These conflicts led to a G-7 meeting in Canada, which President Donald Trump left early to prioritize negotiations with North Korea.
Other G-7 members and European countries have also shown their disagreement with Trump’s procedures. Angela Merkel called Trump’s withdrawal “depressing” and “sobering.” In a somewhat defensive tone, she stated that: “We won’t let ourselves be ripped off again and again. Instead, we act then too.”
European Council President Donald Tusk also had a notable response, using Navarro’s words against him on Twitter: “There is a special place in heaven for @JustinTrudeau. Canada, thank you for the perfect organization of G7!”
Trudeau had previously responded to the announcement of the U.S. sanctions by stating:
One of the things that I have to admit I’m having a lot of trouble getting around is the idea that this entire thing is coming about because the president and the administration have decided that Canada and Canadian steel and aluminum is a national security threat to the United States. The idea that we are somehow a national security threat to the United States is quite frankly insulting and unacceptable.”
Featured Image via: Flickr/Joanna St. Jacques