In public, the relationship between Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is awful. In private, by some accounts, it’s worse.
The New York Times reported last week, for example, on recent interactions between the two leaders, including a phone meeting in which the American president “laid out a long list of grievances,” even adding that he “did not believe that the treaty that demarcates the border between the two countries was valid.” That was soon followed by another conversation in which, according to an NBC News report, the Republican’s tone turned “abusive.”
This does not mean, however, that conditions can’t get worse.
On ABC News’ “This Week,” guest host Jonathan Karl spoke to Kevin Hassett, the director of the White House National Economic Council, about the administration’s tariffs plans. After Hassett raised concerns about fentanyl reaching American soil through the northern border, Karl reminded his guest, “I don’t think that’s happening. I mean, 1% of fentanyl is being smuggled across the border, 1%. I mean, Canada is not a major source at all of fentanyl in the United States, are they?” Hassett replied:
Well, yes they are a major source. And I can tell you that in the Situation Room, I’ve seen photographs of fentanyl labs in Canada that the law enforcement folks were leaving alone. Canada’s got a big drug problem.
Let’s back up for a minute and review how we arrived at this point.
Trump and his team have struggled at times to explain why, exactly, the White House seems so eager to launch a trade conflict — or in Hassett’s words, a “trade war” — with our Canadian neighbors. At times, the president and his cohorts have complained about the trade deficit. At other times, they’ve pointed to illegal border crossings. Recently, however, they’ve settled on a talking point about fentanyl.
“The excuse that he’s giving for these tariffs today of fentanyl is completely bogus, completely unjustified, completely false,” Trudeau recently declared. “What he wants is to see a total collapse of the Canadian economy, because that’ll make it easier to annex us.”
That was an extraordinary comment for a variety of reasons, but the outgoing prime minister’s assessment about fentanyl rang true. In fact, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, only 43 pounds of fentanyl were found crossing the northern border in 2024 — as opposed to 21,100 pounds seized at the southern border.
It’s obviously silly to think a country would launch a trade war over fentanyl that could fit in a single suitcase. It’s against this backdrop that one of Trump’s top aides on economic policy appeared on national television and suggested that officials in Canada have covered up covert “labs.” Kevin Hassett suggests Canadian authorities are covering up major fentanyl operations: "I can tell you that in the situation room I've seen photographs of fentanyl labs in Canada that the law enforcement folks were leaving alone. Canada's got a big drug problem." Even if we put aside Hassett’s deeply unfortunate track record — remember his “econometric model“ in response to Covid? — it’s unsettling when Republican White Houses claim to have secret evidence of foreign chemical labs. As best as I can tell, Canadian officials haven’t yet responded to these new allegations, though given the circumstances, I’m not even sure why they’d bother.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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