Trump has spread so many lies and broken so many deals that those who work for him are making themselves complicit in his dishonesty.
U.S. President Donald Trump has told a torrent of lies throughout his time in the public eye. As compiled by Daniel Dale of CNN, here are the lies he’s told about Canada in the past year and a half alone:
“Trump falsely said today that Canada’s unemployment rate is “10% and rapidly rising,” though it is 6.4% (under the Canadian method that adds about a percentage point) and has been declining for three months
Trump falsely said today that Canada does 95% of its business with the US, though 72% of Canadian exports went to the US last year
Trump falsely said today that high Canadian agricultural tariffs have caused the entire US trade deficit with Canada, though that deficit is overwhelmingly caused by US imports of cheap Canadian crude and though something like 97% of US ag exports to Canada are tariff-free
Trump has falsely said Canada generally doesn’t “take” US agricultural exports, though Canada is the world’s second-biggest buyer of those exports
Trump has falsely said the Canadian public likes the idea of becoming the 51st state, which the Canadian public overwhelmingly opposes
Trump has falsely said Canada is one of the world’s highest-tariff countries, though it is actually low in WTO global rankings
Trump has falsely said Canada essentially doesn’t have a military, though its military has fought with the US in multiple wars and its force size ranks in the upper half of NATO
Trump has falsely said Canada hiked its dairy tariffs during the Biden administration, though they hadn’t changed since Trump’s first presidency
Trump has falsely said the US trade deficit with Canada is “$200 billion,” though it is nowhere close
Trump has falsely said Canada prohibits US banks, though it doesn’t and though more than a dozen US banks were operating in Canada at the time he spoke
Trump has falsely said Canada is “constantly surrounded” by Chinese and Russian ships, though that is fiction
Trump has falsely said then-outgoing PM Trudeau was using their trade battle to run again for prime minister, though Trudeau obviously wasn’t running”
To work for Donald Trump in a high position, particularly a position where you negotiate with other nations, means being complicit in an enterprise that is deeply dishonest at its core. It means being willing to give your word to other nations, knowing full well that anything you agree to can be, and likely will be, violated on a whim. It means that when such a violation occurs, you will blame the other side even when Trump is responsible. And fundamentally, it means serving someone who does not believe in dealing with others in good faith, and thus subordinating your own sense of ethics to someone who is deeply unethical.
So, when we consider the recent interview with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, we must consider it through that lens. After all, Greer thinks Canada should just sit back and accept economic punishment from the United States without responding, a position that shows deep contempt for Canada as a nation.
Trump and the people around him have shown they cannot be trusted.
Spencer Fernando
Canada is under attack by the Trump Administration. We need to fight back and stand up for Canadian sovereignty. And that means fighting back against the misinformation and propaganda spread by pro-Trump figures in Canada.
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