this post was submitted on 10 Feb 2025
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Summary

Donald Trump reiterated his claim that Canada would be better as the U.S.’s 51st state, citing trade imbalances and lower taxes.

He also announced new 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, including from Canada, despite a recent 30-day reprieve.

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau has not formally responded, but a government source said they await official confirmation.

Trump criticized Canada’s defense spending and border security, despite recent Canadian commitments.

Canada previously retaliated against similar tariffs in 2018 before a 2019 trade deal resolved the dispute.

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[–] Stamets@lemmy.world 222 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (42 children)

Most of us would rather die than ever become an American. Want a good example of the mood in Canada summed up against our 'ally to the south' as of late? Well let me just personally put it this way. You, the United States, are a fucking joke.

To quote an author, Stephen Marche, who spoke on the CBC here in Canada recently... The bold is mine but the emphasis really should be placed there anyway.

They've [The US] come off of 70 years of failed wars of occuption. One thing you have to understand about these comments is that they come from a profound weakness that America is really unfamiliar with. And Canada is unfamiliar with America being this weak. They can't hold Baghdad, I'm not sure why they think they can hold Montreal. But they're also being kicked out of Niger and you know they are weaker than they've ever been in a lot of ways. They are extremely fragile as a country. They have absolutely no solidarity, they have absolutely no unity. They are in the middle of dismantling their administrative state and war is a is a test, fundamentally, of the strength of the administrative state. So I think you should take this about as seriously as you would take the ramblings of a crack addict on the subway. I.e, you pay attention to it and get out of the way and you do what you can but, you know, this is not something to be treated like an actual... this is not something to be thought about. It's just the ramblings of lunacy.

[...]

I think he's [Trump] actually managed to make Canadians patriotic for the first time since I can remember. You have to say, he's the president of the United States but the United States is crumbling. Institutions are falling apart and 'Who the United States is at this moment'... that's not a meaningful phrase. You have to ask yourself which America are you talking about, which institutions are you talking about, because they are not under the guidance of anyone, right?

[...]

All he [Trump] can do is destroy. The American stock market is falling, even the threat of this [tarrifs on Canadian goods] has caused inflation to raise it's head. The American people fired everyone who has caused gas prices to rise almost immediately. They can tolerate almost anything from their political class. War crimes, whatever, but increase gas prices they go crazy for. So it's just very important to understand that this is spoken from a position of profound weakness.

[...]

America has never been an uglier place to become a part of. I mean who would wanna be American at this point in history. They're about to start killing each other. There is no question that there is a Canadian rejection of American values, the American government and Amreica itself. Why wouldn't you reject these people? They're awful.

Watch it for yourself here.

[–] lolcatnip@reddthat.com 7 points 1 month ago (5 children)

I disagree with only one point there: while America as a political entity is like a crazy crackhead, it's like a very heavily armed crazy crackhead. Treat the prospect of being invaded by the US the same way Ukrainians treated the prospect of being invaded by Russia. Hope for the best but prepare for the worst, because the US military is really good at wrecking whole countries even if it sucks at occupying them.

[–] Stamets@lemmy.world 10 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

And are they just going to start shooting normal people at random? Canadians look exactly and sound exactly like America. The US Military is really good at wrecking a country but who cares when we can cross a border you can't defend, mingle perfectly and start guerilla attacks against major infrastructure?

This war is not just tanks vs planes and ships vs submarines. This would end violently for America.

[–] TheBrideWoreCrimson@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Excuse the naive question please, but how will Canadians know each other?

[–] Stamets@lemmy.world 11 points 1 month ago

That doesn't matter at all when you're actively attacking infrastructure and not people.

[–] lolcatnip@reddthat.com 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

You seem to be under the impression that I'm defending the idea of the US invading Canada. I am not. It's a horrific thing to even contemplate and insane on many levels. My point is that the US might do it anyway, so Canada needs to be prepared. You really don't want to be the next Vietnam or Iraq.

[–] Stamets@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

You seem to be under the impression that I’m defending the idea of the US invading Canada.

No? I just missed a step in my text a bit. My point was that while the US military is strong and could outright invade Canada with tanks and planes and guns... that isn't how the war would actually be fought. It would instantly turn to guerilla warfare as normal citizens started weaponizing themselves, crossing into the United States, and being able to carry out attacks on American infrastructure while looking and sounding the same as Americans.

Canada can't prepare a ton more than it already has but America can't prepare at all. The infrastructure in America is way too vulnerable and any war with Canada would mean a destruction of American infrastructure carried out by people wearing not uniforms but a smile.

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