President Donald Trump’s top economic and trade advisers lashed out at Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Sunday, using rhetoric rarely — if ever — used against one of America’s closest allies.
Speaking on Fox News on Sunday morning[1], Peter Navarro, the White House National Trade Council director, said there was “a special place in hell” for Trudeau.
“That’s what bad faith Justin Trudeau did with that stunt press conference. That’s what weak, dishonest Justin Trudeau did, and that comes right from Air Force One,” he said. “To my friends in Canada, that was one of worst political miscalculations of a Canadian leader in modern Canadian history.”
Meanwhile, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on CNN [2]that Trudeau had attempted to undermine Trump.
“You just don’t behave that way, OK? It is a betrayal, OK? He is essentially double-crossing — not just double-crossing President Trump, but the other members of the G-7, who were working together and pulling together this communique,” Kudlow said.
The bizarre backlash came after Trudeau on Saturday repeated comments he had made previously — that the U.S. tariffs imposed on Canada on national-security ground was “insulting,” that Canada won’t be pushed around and that the tariffs will force Canada to retaliate in kind.
Soon after leaving early from the G-7 conference in Quebec on Saturday, Trump blasted Trudeau as “very dishonest and weak,” and said the U.S. would not endorse a joint communique that had been agreed on.
On Sunday, Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s foreign affairs minister, said the war of words was pointless.[3] “Canada does not believe that ad hominem attacks are a particularly appropriate or useful way to conduct our relations with other countries,” she said.
While a number of Democratic lawmakers immediately denounced the White House’s rhetoric, Republicans — with the exception of Arizona Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake — were silent.
To our allies: bipartisan majorities of Americans remain pro-free trade, pro-globalization & supportive of alliances based on 70 years of shared values. Americans stand with you, even if our president doesn’t.
— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain)
“Fellow Republicans, this is not who we are. This cannot be our party,” Flake said in a tweet[5]. ...
References
- ^ Speaking on Fox News on Sunday morning (www.foxnews.com)
- ^ Larry Kudlow said on CNN (www.cnn.com)
- ^ said the war of words was pointless.