, 06.26.2018 07:43 AM

Donald Trump is an asshole

Listen to this Canadian punk rock band, if you don’t believe me:


Anyway.

Here’s Adolf Twitler yesterday, speaking to a rally of mouth-breathing knuckle-draggers:

When Trump eventually got around to Canada, he began by saying “Canada” in a loud, exaggerated voice.

“Canada. You know, Canada: nice guy, nice guy,” he said, extending his arms in a kind of conciliatory gesture. “Prime minister. Justin. I said, ‘Justin, what’s your problem, Justin?’ So: Canada. O Canada. I love their national anthem. O Canada. I like ours better, however. So. No, Canada’s great, I love Canada.”

Elsewhere in the speech, Trump referred deferentially to North Korea’s dictator as “Chairman Kim.” Trump aides say the president intentionally refers to Trudeau by his first name “to be diminishing,” Maggie Haberman, a prominent New York Times reporter, wrote on Twitter.

Trump then launched into his familiar complaint about the post-G7 news conference in which Trudeau repeated his measured criticism of Trump’s new tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum. Trump baselessly suggested again that Trudeau gave the news conference because he thought Trump could not watch it while stuck on a long Air Force One flight to Asia.

“I get onto Air Force One. And he doesn’t understand that Air Force One has 22 televisions. So I come on — they have televisions in closets, they have televisions in areas that no place has — unlimited budget, Air Force One, right,” he said.

“So I get onto the plane and I see Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, saying, ‘Canada will not be bullied by the United States.’ I said, ‘What are we doing here? The fact is that Canada has a 275 per cent tariff on dairy products.’ Little thing called dairy product. Their lumber is a disaster with us. I say, ‘Why aren’t we using our own lumber?’”

The U.S. imported $5.7 billion (U.S.) in Canadian softwood lumber in 2016, according to Trump’s Commerce Department. The two countries are still embroiled in a years-old lumber dispute.

“Energy is a disaster,” Trump continued without elaboration. The White House has never explained the president’s occasional vague complaints about the energy relationship.

Trump then adopted a mocking voice to dismiss Trudeau’s argument that Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs, officially imposed on “national security” grounds, are an insult to a close military ally like Canada.

“I see Justin said, ‘We fought World War I together, we fought World War II together.’ That’s true. We love Canada. But Canada’s charging almost 300 per cent tariff on dairy products and many other things,” he said.

Canada’s supply management system for dairy involves a quota on foreign imports and then high tariffs above the quota levels. The Canadian dairy industry argues that U.S. dairy farmers also get signifaicnt help from governments in the form of subsidies.

Trump continued: “I said, look, if you want to do that, we’re going to put a little tariff on your cars.”

When will Justin Trudeau stop taking this shit, and fight back?

Your guess is as good as mine.

17 Comments

  1. Pipes says:

    1. I think it is time for Canada to build its own car.
    2. What war did the United States fight, on its own, and win?

  2. Rick Bethell says:

    When? July 1st.

  3. Rick Bethell says:

    When? July 1st. On Canada Day. And just before July 4th. Maybe it’s symbolic. Canada First?

  4. Peter says:

    It’s too early, and he did say nice things about the anthem. JT should keep his powder dry until Trump makes the fatal error of going after our most treasured national symbol. Then he’ll learn pretty fast he’s taken on the wrong country.

  5. Sean McLaughlin says:

    How does Trudeau fight back?

    A line by line rebuttal of each of these falsehoods? We already know this is all bullshit. Half of Americans do, too, but the other half doesn’t care.

    Respond in kind with a smear campaign and name calling? Forget a two-front war, Trump’s launching an all-front war. Since the G7 he’s said ruder things about Mexico and China, so it’s not like he’s singled us out.

    Either one of these options would probably feel good in the moment, but they’re not going to make things any better in the long run. The Trump problem can only be solved by American voters.

    • Warren says:

      Neville Chamberlain called, he wants his strategy back

      • Peter says:

        The problem with Neville wasn’t a lack of anger, it was a lack of cojones.

      • Sean McLaughlin says:

        For the record, Britain did end up winning that war in the end.

        Short of obtaining kompromat, I don’t see any hope that Trudeau or anyone else in his shoes can moderate Trump’s behavior. What specifically does fighting back look like to you? What exactly do you want it to accomplish?

        We’re five months out from midterms that could see the Republicans lose the House and the Senate, leaving Trump seriously exposed to the impeachment process. This has been an incredibly shitty, stressful, and embarrassing period in American history, but if I didn’t think there was a puncher’s chance that decent Americans would clean up the mess their neighbors have made I’d move back to Canada tomorrow.

        • Warren says:

          They should have:

          1. Sought a quicker deal than this (failed) drawn-out process
          2. Given Trump an early win he could have waved around to his core
          3. Worked Congress with more than just one ambassador, and more aggressively signed up pro-free-trade Republicans who are now facing defeat
          4. Run an ad campaign in Trump swing states about Canada supporting America in war, hard times, etc.
          5. NOT KISSED TRUMP’S ASS

          • Fred from BC says:

            “5. NOT KISSED TRUMP’S ASS”

            So…call a press conference and proclaim that “Canada will not be bullied”, that sort of thing?

  6. Warren,

    He won’t be quite so cocky once his and recipriocal tariffs put the U.S. economy in the tank — and it’s coming a lot faster than most people think.

    Sad. I like “The Trump-Tariff Recession.” Has a nice ring to it.

    • Fred from BC says:

      Reality differs somewhat. From Market Watch:

      ——————–

      By contrast, the Canadian economy is growing at its weakest rate in two years, and Europe has suffered a surprising slowdown. Both could post sub-2% growth in 2018. China, for its part, is enduring a bear market in stocks tied in part to anxiety over trade.

      The U.S. economy is more shielded because so much of what takes place involves Americans selling and buying from other Americans. Exports represent about 12% of the American economy vs. nearly 20% for China, one-third for Canada and almost 50% for Germany.

      “Nobody wins in a trade war, but the U.S. is much, much less dependent on exports as a percentage of our economy,” said Carl Tannenbaum, chief economist at Northern Trust in Chicago. “The strategy is very clear. They are willing to go a long way with the tariffs because they feel our relative pain will be lower than it will be for other countries.”

      ——————-

      Don’t say that you weren’t warned. When Donald Trump ends this, it won’t be because he ‘lost’…it will be because he achieved what he set out to do: get the best deal possible for his own country (and yes, it will be at the expense of others; that’s how business works). Since he has repeatedly said publically that this would be his strategy, how is this at all confusing?

      • Fred,

        Where are you on this pushing the U.S. prematurely into a recession?

        • Fred from BC says:

          I think they have a long way to go before that become a legitimate fear, since their economic growth right now is about double Canada’s (and Mexico’s). Unemployment at a near 20 year low, foreign investment flooding in, etc.

          They will feel some pain, for sure…but nothing like what happens to us.

          (unless, as I said above, Trump decides that he has sufficiently made his point, he has struck enough fear into his opponents and it is an opportune time to make a deal)

          I hope you’re right and I’m not, Ronald (honestly, I do). I just wouldn’t put any money on it. This guy plays to win, and he doesn’t seem to care what anyone thinks of him.

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