Canadian leaders have fired back against U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest round of attacks against them, including the claim that Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is ‘not a MAGA guy."
“Mr. President, it is true. I am not MAGA. I am for Canada First. Always,” Poilievre wrote in a Friday afternoon post to X, hours after the Trump comments were made public.
“Canada has always been America’s best friend & ally. But we will NEVER be the 51st state.”
Mr. President, it is true.
— Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) February 28, 2025
I am not MAGA.
I am for Canada First. Always.
Canada has always been America’s best friend & ally.
But we will NEVER be the 51st state. pic.twitter.com/UJKha8FFYf
Published Friday morning, Trump’s attacks came during a nearly hour-long interview with Ben Domenech, editor-at-large at the U.K. magazine The Spectator. Trump described Poilievre to make the “mistake” of thinking he will “be the tough guy” and “knock out Trump.”
“They all make that mistake … They end up getting the hell beat out of them,” he said.
Trump also took aim at former deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland, who he called a “whack,” and whose exit from cabinet, he claimed, came on his suggestion.
“She’s absolutely terrible for the country. She’s incompetent in many respects and can only cause ill will for Canada,” Trump said in the interview. “[Prime Minister Justin] Trudeau understood that. And he actually fired her because of a meeting he had with me.”
In a post to X Friday afternoon, Freeland suggested that the reason Trump insulted her was the same reason Russian President Vladimir Putin “kicked [her] out of Russia.”
“I don’t back down — and Trump and Putin know it,” the post reads. “I’m ready to fight for Canada — and win.”
There’s a reason Trump called me a “whack.” There’s a reason he complained about my negotiating skills. There’s a reason Putin kicked me out of Russia, too.
— Chrystia Freeland (@cafreeland) February 28, 2025
I don’t back down—and Trump and Putin know it.
I’m ready to fight for Canada—and win.
Reached by CTVNews.ca, a spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment.
Freeland’s resignation came as a surprise to the federal Liberals, with senior members of the PMO learning of her plans only hours before the news became public, CTV News reported.
Freeland, who also served as both the finance minister and foreign affairs minister at different points in Trudeau’s cabinet, published her resignation letter in a Dec. 16 social media post, describing stepping down from her role as the “only honest and viable path” for her.
Trump seized that opportunity to deride Freeland, calling her behaviour in office “totally toxic, and not at all conducive to making deals.”
“She will not be missed!!!!” a post on Truth Social concludes.
The Spectator’s Domenech is also heard in the interview audio criticizing Freeland, calling her the “nuttiest” of the candidates on stage at this week’s Liberal leadership debates.
“They all seemed pretty nutty to me,” he added.
Self-described as the “oldest magazine in the English language,” The Spectator‘s About Us page notes that while its writers are non-partisan, they “do not strive for impartiality,” touting the motto “firm, but unfair.”
Attacks on Canadian sovereignty continue
Trump’s attacks on Canadian political leaders and claimed meddling in cabinet affairs are the latest in a series of attacks on the country’s sovereignty since his U.S. presidential election win.
Late last year, following the announcement of sweeping U.S. tariffs on Canadian imports, Trudeau rushed to a surprise diplomatic meeting at the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort. During the meeting, Trump was reportedly heard suggesting that if Canada would be debilitated economically by the tariffs, then perhaps it should become the 51st U.S. state.
The comment was originally dismissed by Canadian officials as a joke, but talk of a 51st state has gained momentum in the months since.
In early February, CTV News reported that Trudeau told a group of Canadian business leaders the threat of annexation is a “real thing.” Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey has said Trump is "definitively looking towards the 51st state being Canada‚" while Trump’s nickname for the prime minister — “Governor Trudeau” — has joined the ranks of Trump’s demeaning monikers for his rivals.
The response to a new Trump administration has become one of the defining issues of the political moment in Canada.
In a Nanos Research survey published Tuesday, one in five Canadians surveyed said in an open-ended response that Trump and U.S. relations were the single most important national issue of concern, beating out jobs and the economy, health care and inflation.
Freeland herself has described combatting Trump as the “foundation of all economic policies” in her vision for the country’s future.
With files from CTV News’ Rachel Aiello, Stephanie Ha, Vassy Kapelos and Spencer Van Dyk
