Donald Trump has hurled some late night insults at Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, referring to Canada as a “Great State” and addressing Trudeau as its “Governor.”
Clearly not in need of beauty sleep, the president-elect made the childish jabs in a Truth Social post shared at 12:06 am, likely right after he feasted on a midnight snack of McDonald’s. “It was a pleasure to have dinner the other night with Governor Justin Trudeau of the Great State of Canada,” Trump wrote, mustering the energy of a class clown who thinks he did something when in reality he just made a fool of himself.
I’d say it’s a schoolyard taunt, but even teenage students have more rizz in their insults than that (is that what the kids are saying these days?). Since it’s Trump, there were multiple needless capital letters in the rest of the post, as he referred to Trudeau as a “Governor” whom he looks forward to seeing “again soon so that we may continue our in depth talks on Tariffs and Trade.” Trump concluded the post by declaring that the outcome of his tariffs will “be truly spectacular for all,” proving that he obviously doesn’t read The Economist (or really anything that isn’t a picture book).
While Trump might think otherwise, it’s precisely these tariff policies — including plans to impose a 25% tariff on Canada and Mexico — that have caused tensions between him and Trudeau, to the point where he now feels the need to diminish Trudeau’s power and make fun of Canada’s sovereignty. Trudeau has made no secret of his opposition to Trump’s tariff plans, and the topic has been top of mind for both leaders ever since Trump won the election.
Earlier this month during a meeting at Mar-a-Lago, it was reported that, in response to Trudeau’s concerns about the tariffs — which he said would “kill the Canadian economy” — Trump flat-out suggested that Canada become the 51st state while proposing that Trudeau become its governor. Trump doubling down on the comments in his latest Truth Social post feels like when you try to repeat a joke that got no laughs the first time, but of course we don’t trust his brand of stand-up comedy.
While Trudeau has consistently opposed the tariffs and said he is “still looking at the right ways to respond” to them, he has also emphasized that they won’t just affect Canada. During the same Mar-a-Lago meeting, Trudeau reportedly had to explain to Trump that his plans would “be raising prices for American citizens as well, and hurting American industry and businesses.” Try as he might, Trudeau would probably only have success in explaining the topic to Trump if he brought along a picture book as a visual guide, and dangled a McDonald’s fry above it to keep Trump undistracted.
In any case, Trump’s post has been met with an expected dose of ridicule, with some X users imagining what his funeral service will look like after leaving such a disastrous Cheeto-stained legacy. Others called out the seeming double standard given that, if the (insoled) shoe were on the other foot, Joe Biden “would be getting dozens of articles about how he’s senile and needs to resign.”
It’s not the first (and definitely won’t be the last) time Trump has been embarrassing on the world stage, with perhaps the most famous example being that time he shoved past multiple world leaders to get the prime position for a photo op. It was ultimately an unnecessary manoeuvre, since a literal Oompa Loompa would’ve pulled focus no matter where he was positioned.