Trump makes tariff case saying ‘it’s time to teach Canada you can’t do this anymore’

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump repeated inaccurate claims about Canadian tariffs to justify his own duties the day after the federal government unveiled its plans to retaliate.

“It’s time to teach Canada that you can’t do this anymore,” Trump said in an interview with conservative talk show host Glenn Beck on Wednesday.

The president repeated inaccurate claims about Canada’s supply-managed dairy system and automobile industry. He said the Trump administration presented Canada with a good deal.

“They charge tariffs, they take advantage of us as though they were a state, and they’re not a state,” Trump said.

The president also pointed to his post about changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America. Trump compared it to executive order he signed to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America last year.

“Now we have a gulf and we have a lake, OK,” Trump said. “You know, it’s very simple.”

When asked about Trump’s comments during an unrelated event in Alberta later Wednesday, Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said the federal government always takes note of what Trump says.

“That being said we are in a position of strength and in these circumstances will continue to fight because Canada is worth fighting for,” Joly told reporters in Calgary.

Trump administration officials have fanned out across American news stations and posted on social media to make the case for Trump’s 50 per cent tariffs on an array of Canadian goods that were implemented after negotiations fell apart last week.

Trump’s senior counsellor Peter Navarro told C-Span Wednesday that Prime Minister Mark Carney was the worst thing that happened to Canada and was leading the country into the “toilet.”

“This deal blew up for only one reason, politics across our border,” Navarro said.

Navarro called Ontario Premier Doug Ford Carney’s German shepherd and said he’s egging the prime minister on.

Tensions between the two countries have continued to worsen since negotiations were paused, with a particularly heated war of words between Trump and Ford.

Navarro has long been critical of Canada and free trade in general. He agrees with Trump that trade deficits with other countries are always a problem.

The United States trade deficit with Canada is largely linked to the purchase of energy and oil.

Navarro repeated Trump’s claim that the administration brought a good deal to the negotiating table and cautioned that Canada will never see another one like it.

Speaking directly to Canadians, Navarro said “you can’t encourage Carney and especially Doug Ford to dump on the United States when we are trying our best to have a fair deal with you all.”

“And you’re just, you’re just playing politics with somebody in a country which is far stronger economically than you are,” he said. “And it just is not going to end well for Canada.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 26, 2026.

Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press