Campaign Action
Donald Trump is a genuine goddamn moron.
According to the sources, [Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau] pressed Trump on how he could justify the tariffs as a "national security" issue. In response, Trump quipped to Trudeau, "Didn't you guys burn down the White House?" referring to the War of 1812.
That was the British. It was the British who burned down the White House in 1812. Canada was not a nation then. Donald Trump told the prime minister of Canada that he could consider Canada a national security threat because ... the War of 1812. With da British.
See, this is the sort of thing you get when the sitting president's only historical knowledge comes from things he heard snippets of on the teevee. But the larger administration isn't doing much better, when it comes to regaling our allies with egregiously stupid remarks. State Department spokescritter Heather Nauert did her own version last Tuesday.
"We have a very strong relationship with the government of Germany," Nauert said. "Looking back in the history books, today is the 71st anniversary of the speech that announced the Marshall Plan. Tomorrow is the anniversary of the D-Day invasion. We obviously have a very long history with the government of Germany, and we have a strong relationship with the government of Germany."
We have a strong relationship with Germany, as is evidenced by D-Day. Nope, still not as stupid as the Trump version. Pretty close, though.