U.S. President Donald Trump took aim at Canada on Wednesday night, calling the country \u2014 and its leadership \u2014 “nasty” during a speech in Las Vegas in which he also praised his administration’s use of tariffs.<\/p>\n
“I love tariffs, right? Because we’ve been screwed by tariffs used against us for years. By China, by Japan, by South Korea, by Germany, by everybody \u2014 by Canada,” Trump said, as the crowd cheered.<\/p>\n
“Canada’s nasty. They are. They’re nasty,” he said. “I love the people, but they’re nasty. Nasty leadership.”<\/p>\n
The U.S. president used the adjective to describe Canada a total of five times.<\/p>\n
When asked about Trump’s comments during an event on Thursday, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney described the situation as a “tough negotiation.”<\/p>\n
“We can change the adjective and say ‘nasty,’ if you will,” Carney added.<\/p>\n
Carney said he spoke with Trump on the phone last week and that there would be “other conversations” to come.<\/p>\n
Trump’s Wednesday-night comments on Canada follow pointed remarks Carney made earlier in the day.<\/p>\n
When his Teleprompter malfunctioned during a news conference\u00a0on Toronto housing, Carney smiled and made a quip.<\/p>\n
“I would like to inform you that the Teleprompter has ceased to function. Unlike a certain world leader, I do not view this as a conspiracy,”\u00a0he said.<\/p>\n
The comment was an apparent reference to Trump’s\u00a0demands for an investigation\u00a0into “triple sabotage” after he encountered a halted escalator, a non-functioning Teleprompter and sound issues last year at the United Nations General Assembly, where he delivered a speech.<\/p>\n
Rocky relations<\/p>\n
Relations between Canada and the U.S. have been rocky of late, as the two countries work to address trade irritants and an upcoming Aug. 19 deadline, at which point the U.S. plans to put 50 per cent tariffs on about five per cent of Canadian exports to the country. The targeted goods range from alcohol to hockey sticks to cement.<\/p>\n
Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc and chief trade negotiator Janice Charette are back in Washington this week for more meetings with their U.S. counterparts. The pair will meet with U.S. Trade Representative Greer at his office in Washington, D.C., this afternoon.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, LeBlanc and Charette met with Jay Timmons, CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers. On Wednesday morning, LeBlanc met with North Dakota Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer and Tennessee Republican Sen. Bill Hagerty.<\/p>\n
Carney said he’s been “very involved” in those talks.<\/p>\n
Canada has already addressed multiple trade irritants listed by the Trump administration, including killing a planned digital services tax and rolling back a Canadian content levy on streaming companies \u2014 moves that appear to have done little to move the needle with the U.S. president.<\/p>\n
The Trump administration has also taken issue with multiple provincial bans on U.S. booze. The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States has called the bans “devastating,” <\/a>highlighting that exports to Canada fell 63 per cent last year.<\/p>\n Canada has maintained that the booze bans were a direct response to previous U.S. tariffs and would only end as part of a comprehensive trade agreement with the U.S.<\/p>\n