President Donald Trump attacked longtime American ally Canada as the “nastiest” nation in a Fox News interview on Tuesday.
The comments came during an interview that aired in prime time on “The Ingraham Angle,” hosted by Trump superfan Laura Ingraham.
“One of the nastiest countries to deal with is Canada,” Trump said. “[Former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau]’s people were nasty, and they weren’t telling the truth, they’re never telling the truth.”
Trump also reiterated his bizarre take that the United States should annex Canada, claiming “it’s meant to be our 51st state.” This line of argument has angered Canadian residents, while Trump’s decision to levy tariffs against America’s northern neighbor is expected to increase costs for consumers.
Trump’s antagonism toward Canada, which shares a massive border with the United States, is considerably out of line with historical American attitudes. In a 2023 Gallup poll, Canada was ranked by American respondents as their favorite nation in the entire world, with 88% support—ahead of Great Britain, France, and Japan. Russia was next to last, just ahead of North Korea.
Even Ingraham noted that Trump’s rhetoric toward Canada was harsher than against countries that have traditionally been American rivals.
That disparity was on display in the same interview as Trump gushed about his “great call” earlier in the day with Russian President Vladimir Putin and informed Ingraham that they spoke for two hours. In fact, the White House readout of the call sent out to reporters said the two men hope for “improved bilateral relations between the United States and Russia.”
The call was ostensibly to negotiate some form of a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine to stop the ongoing war in the region, which was triggered by Russia’s violation of Ukraine’s sovereign borders.
But despite Trump’s flowery language about the Russian autocrat, the war continues to rage on. Following their phone call, Russian planes bombed sites in Ukraine and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that hospitals were targeted in these raids.
“It is these types of night-time attacks by Russia that destroy our energy sector, our infrastructure, and the normal life of Ukrainians,” Zelenskyy said.
Trump has repeatedly offered up excuses for Russia and Putin, who interfered on his behalf in the 2016 election. While Trump has few harsh words for Ukraine’s primary antagonist, he continues to blame Canada for nearly everything under the sun.
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