The Daily Blast: Trump’s Fury at Canada Takes Unhinged Turn—and Backfires Badly for Him
The DSR Network
This episode of The Daily Blast explores the escalating trade conflict between Donald Trump and Canada, highlighting how Trump's inflammator
Key takeaways
- Trump's trade war with Canada is self-inflicted damage that harms Republican candidates and constituents, especially in agricultural states.
- Canada's retaliatory tariffs appear deliberately aimed at weakening Republicans in key midterms battlegrounds like Iowa, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.
Main topics
- Trump's trade war with Canada
- Retaliatory tariffs by Canada on American goods
Notable quotes
If I was a Republican candidate right now, I would be panicking because this is 100% a self-inflicted wound that Donald Trump is bringing in on them.
Conclusion
Trump's reckless trade policies with Canada are backfiring spectacularly, turning his own base into a political liability
Transcript preview
Speaker 5 (0:04) The Speaker 6 (0:05) city moves fast, but your vibe, that's different. Sharper, smoother, more alive. Speaker 5 (0:15) The new Speaker 6 (0:20) Honda City isn't just made to drive, it's made to feel. The new Honda City, all new vibe. Speaker 1 (0:29) When the world keeps shifting, we're there to help you act with confidence. At HSBC, we bring together the people, ideas, and capital that drive growth, backing your ambitions at every stage. So when you're preparing for the next generation, strengthening your portfolio, or you're entering new markets, we're there, bringing 160 years of experience to help you move forward. HSBC. Opening up a world of opportunity. Speaker 4 (1:09) This is The Daily Blast from The New Republic, produced and presented by the DSR Network. I'm your host, Greg Sargent. Donald Trump's war on Canada is escalating. He just posted some juvenile threats that were designed to titillate MAGA. But a funny thing happened. Canada just released its list of American products that it will target with retaliatory tariffs, and they're aimed right at weakening Republicans in the midterms. Republicans are caught in a trap. Even though they themselves know Trump's trade war with Canada is utter madness that will hurt their own constituents, they must be extraordinarily careful about how they distance themselves from the despot if they're willing to do it at all. So how can Democrats fully exploit this developing fiasco? We're working through it all with one of our go-to people on midterm elections, Democratic strategist Christina Reynolds. Good to have you on, Christina. Great to be with you. So over the weekend, Trump's trade talks with Canada collapsed, unleashing 50 % American tariffs on a whole range of Canadian goods. Canada's now retaliating. We'll get to that in a sec. But first, Trump is in a fury. He posted this, quote. The United States is giving serious consideration to changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America in that we don't expect to be doing much business with Ontario any longer. Close quote. Christina, this is meant to make MAGA think what? He's owning Canada? What do you make of it? Speaker 3 (2:51) I... I guess. I have long given up trying to put some logic behind some of Donald Trump's moves. I will tell you, if I was a Republican candidate right now, I would be panicking because this is 100 % a self-inflicted wound that Donald Trump is bringing in on them. This is something that will impact consumers. This is something that will in particular impact states where Republicans have to win in the midterms. Speaker 3 (3:19) Donald Trump has done this to those states, to all consumers, and to these candidates. And so they're going to be in a tough spot of probably owning this economic trouble that we're in and having to decide, do I risk? ticking off the despot, as you put it? Do I risk inflaming him and having him come after me? Do I risk standing with him if he decides to come campaign knowing that he owns this? Speaker 4 (3:49) Right. And Canada is following this very closely. Canada released its list of American products that it's now going to hit with retaliatory tariffs. Among these are things like dairy products, cheese, farm equipment. Now, I talked to some Democrats in the Midwest for a piece I did at NewRepublic.com, especially Democrats in Iowa, and they told me that Canadian tariffs on things like farm equipment will be a serious problem for manufacturers who export their products to Canada. So the Iowa Senate race is very contested. There are several House seats in Iowa that are up for grabs as well. It sure looks like Canada is directly aiming these retaliatory tariffs right at the midterm map, doesn't it? Speaker 3 (4:33) Well, if they're not, they're lucking into it. I mean, you have not just Iowa, where you also have a governor's race that is within striking distance for Democrats. You have Ohio, you have Maine, and you have Alaska. All of those states have Senate races that are potentially within Democrats' grasps. All of those states could be the ones that flip the Senate for Democrats. You have House races that Democrats would love to either hold or flip. And all of this, you mentioned farm equipment, that matters in Wisconsin, where we've got House seats and a governor's race that Republicans... would love to flip. That's half of the battleground this cycle. It's a huge number of seats to say nothing for, again, this will impact consumers across the country. And people have a pretty good understanding of who's in charge when they pay more at the grocery store, online, for all of the things. They're aware of whose fault it is. Speaker 4 (5:37) So the Midwest is sort of this place that we kind of think of in our political mythology as being the place that Donald Trump really used his economic populism to transform. And it's true that he transformed it. But the flip side of this, as I think Ron Brownstein wrote very well the other day, is that Trump is now so unpopular that he's pushing Ohio and Iowa, which are red now, he's pushing them back into the kind of realm of swing state. They're both gettable for Democrats in this