The war of words between the United States and Canada continues apace.
It all started with the dire warning issued by President-elect Donald Trump to our friends up north that they’d best get the border situation figured out or there would be tariffs to pay. As RedState’s Joe Cunningham reported in late November:
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In a bold declaration, President-elect Donald Trump announced plans to impose sweeping tariffs on America’s largest trading partners, Canada and Mexico, along with additional duties on Chinese imports. These measures are set to take effect on his first day in office, underscoring his commitment to reshaping U.S. trade policy.
Trump took to Truth Social with this warning: “On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States.” This led Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to book it down to Mar-a-Lago for a little one-on-one time with Trump.
The Trump-Trudeau meeting led to some great memes and a little bit of ribbing, such as when Trump suggested making Canada the 51st state and having Trudeau be its governor. A light-hearted way of sending a serious message: Canada, the free ride is over. Get your house in order.
Not everyone is seeing the humor in Trump’s poking of Canada. Such is the case with Doug Ford, premier of the Canadian province of Ontario, who has issued a dire warning of his own to the president-elect.
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BREAKING: Ontario Premier Doug Ford threatens to cut off fuel to the United States if Trump tariffs Canada.
“We need to be ready to fight [on] January the 20th.”
“We will go to the extent of cutting off their energy, going down to Michigan, going down to New York State and over… pic.twitter.com/GCIl0KSDXy
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) December 12, 2024
BREAKING: Ontario Premier Doug Ford threatens to cut off fuel to the United States if Trump tariffs Canada.
“We need to be ready to fight [on] January the 20th.”
“We will go to the extent of cutting off their energy, going down to Michigan, going down to New York State and over to Wisconsin.”
“I don’t want this to happen, but my number one job is to protect Ontario, Ontarians and Canadians as a whole since we’re the largest province.”
“Let’s see what happens as we move forward. But we’ll use every tool in our toolbox, including cutting them off energy that we’re sending down there.”
On Thursday, Ford doubled down on his threat, saying, “We can’t just roll over while we’re under attack.”
“We’re sending a message to the U.S. You come and attack Ontario, you attack the livelihoods of Ontario and Canadians, we’re going to use every tool in our toolbox to defend Ontarians and Canadians across the border,” Ford said.
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Ontario provides the fuel that’s used to power around 1.5 million homes in the United States, mostly in Michigan, Minnesota and New York. Cutting off those states would have an immediate effect, to be sure, likely in the form of higher energy costs in the short term. Long term, however, the incoming president has promised to “drill, baby, drill” and open up the nation’s oil and gas production, which will lead to lower prices.
