'Dumb': Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivers a message to Trump over tariffs

Speaking to the press on Tuesday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attacked President Donald Trump's tariffs on Mexico and Canada as "dumb. "

The tariffs began at midnight, and Trudeau announced that his nation would retaliate with a 25 percent levy on $30 billion of U.S. goods coming into Canada.

In his briefing, Trudeau connected Trump's tariffs to appeasing Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“The United States launched a trade war against Canada, their closest partner and ally, the closest friend," Trudeau said. "At the same time, they’re talking about working positively with Russia, appeasing Vladimir Putin, a lying murderous dictator. Make that make sense."

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“The excuse that [Trump] is giving for these tariffs today of fentanyl is completely bogus, completely unjustified, completely false … and I will admit, I have been holding out hope that these tariffs were just a clever negotiating ploy," Trudeau continued.

In a statement issued Monday, Trudeau cited data to disprove Trump's claims that Canada is responsible for the fentanyl coming into the United States.

“While less than 1 percent of the fentanyl intercepted at the U.S. border comes from Canada, we have worked relentlessly to address this scourge that affects Canadians and Americans alike," Trudeau said. "We implemented a $1.3 billion border plan with new choppers, boots on the ground, more co-ordination, and increased resources to stop the flow of fentanyl."

"We appointed a fentanyl czar, listed transnational criminal cartels as terrorist organizations, launched the Joint Operational Intelligence Cell, and are establishing a Canada-U.S. joint strike force on organized crime," his statement added. "Because of this work – in partnership with the United States – fentanyl seizures from Canada have dropped 97 percent between December 2024 and January 2025 to a near-zero low of 0.03 pounds seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection."

Speaking to the press, an angry Trudeau said: "Donald, this is a very dumb thing to do."

The "Trudeau Tracker" shows that Trudeau's approval rating increased more than 10 points since the battle with Trump over trade.

See the press conference below or at the link here.