Gerard Steenbeek

The sheer number of lies from President Trump about Canada – growing again today – is remarkable. Just some fact checks from the last 18 months: - 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