Ahead of talks with tariffed neighbors, President Donald Trump defended his actions to combat the “one-way street” and “out of line” deals.
“If they want to play the game, I don’t mind…”
Having returned a pulse to the White House, the opening two weeks of the GOP leader’s second administration has been arguably unceasing in proactive problem-solving to put America first. This includes the imposition of promised tariffs on Canada, China, and Mexico with threats to expand those actions that Trump defended Sunday.
“Canada has been very abusive of the United States for many years. They don’t allow our banks. And you know that Canada does not allow banks to go in. If you think about it, that’s pretty amazing. If we have a U.S. bank, they don’t allow them to go in,” explained the commander-in-chief while addressing reporters at Joint Base Andrews. “Canada has been very tough on oil; on energy. They don’t allow our farm products in, essentially. They don’t allow a lot of things in. And we allow everything to come in. It’s been a one-way street.”
“We subsidize Canada by the tune of about $200 billion a year. And for what? What do we get out of it? We don’t get anything out of it,” asserted Trump. “I love the people of Canada. I disagree with the leadership of Canada and something is going to happen there. “If they want to play the game, I don’t mind, we can play the game all they want. Mexico, we’ve had very good talks with them.”
The Boss just answered questions from reporters — unscripted and without knowing them in advance — for ten minutes after he returned to Washington, D.C.
It’s nice to have a President who can do that again. pic.twitter.com/fEst96obCR
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) February 3, 2025
After providing ample warning prior to his inauguration, the president followed through with imposing a 25% tariff on the United States’ North American neighbors while adding a 10% tariff to goods imported from China.
“They have to stop people pouring in, and we have to stop fentanyl. And that includes China,” said Trump, reiterating the stakes.
In response to the 25% tariff, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau held a press conference of his own speaking out against it and reinforcing it with a timid social media post encouraging a “Made in Canada” mindset.
“Now is the time to choose products made right her in Canada. Check the labels. Let’s do our part. Wherever we can, choose Canada,” wrote the resigning leader.
Now is the time to choose products made right here in Canada.
Check the labels. Let’s do our part. Wherever we can, choose Canada.
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) February 2, 2025
Along with leaders from Mexico, whose President Claudia Sheinbaum railed against “slander” that her government was aligned with the cartels since designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the Trump administration, the GOP leader explained he would be speaking with Trudeau on Monday.
“I don’t expect anything very dramatic. We put tariffs on. They owe us a lot of money, and I’m sure they’re gonna pay,” he told reporters.
In addition to a behavioral freeze on funding to South Africa, having called out land confiscation that appeared to be targeting white citizens, and inroads in fiscal responsibility at the Treasury Department and USAID, Trump suggested he would “definitely” impose tariffs on the European Union too due to the more than $300 billion trade deficit.
“They don’t take our cars, they don’t take our farm products, they take almost nothing. And we take everything from them. Millions of cars, tremendous amounts of food and farm products,” he said. “So the UK is way out of line and we’ll see the UK, but the European Union is really out of line.”
Furthering his stance on social media having admitted a short-term loss for a long-term benefit, Trump stated, “Anybody that’s against Tariffs, including the Fake News Wall Street Journal, and Hedge Funds, is only against them because these people or entities are controlled by China, or other foreign or domestic companies. Anybody that loves and believes in the United States of America is in favor of Tariffs.”
“They should have never ended, in favor of the Income Tax System, in 1913. The response to Tariffs,” asserted the president who many believe was teasing an effort to eliminate the federal income tax, “has been FANTASTIC!”
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) February 2, 2025
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