Donald Trump has threatened Canada after it moved to recognise a Palestinian state, reacting to Mark Carney’s announcement by saying that signing a US trade deal would now be “very hard”.
The Canadian prime minister said on Wednesday that if the Palestinian Authority promised to meet certain conditions, including demilitarising and holding elections without Hamas, Canada would join France, the UK and other allies in formally recognising a state of Palestine at the UN general assembly in New York in September. Portugal said on Thursday it was also considering recognition.
Trump, who had appeared to give tacit approval to the UK prime minster, Keir Starmer, for Britain’s own declaration earlier in the week, has since reacted to the growing movement toward recognising Palestine by doubling down on his support of Israel’s position, saying that doing so “rewards Hamas”.
“The level of human suffering in Gaza is intolerable,” Carney said in his announcement. He said the leader of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, had assured him it could meet the goals he had laid out, but acknowledged that “much has to happen before a democratic viable state is established”.
“The deepening suffering of civilians leaves no room for delaying coordinated international action to support peace, security and the dignity of human life,” Carney said on Wednesday.
Israel has been accused of refusing to allow international organisations to bring aid into Gaza, where dozens of people have starved to death in recent days, with images of emaciated children horrifying the world.
Trump, however, reacted to Carney’s decision by posting on social media: “Wow! Canada has just announced that it is backing statehood for Palestine. That will make it very hard for us to make a Trade Deal with them.”
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Trump is to impose a 35% tariff on all Canadian goods not covered by the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement if the two countries do not reach an agreement by the deadline on Friday. Carney had already noted that it was unlikely for any Canada-US trade deal to avoid tariffs entirely, despite Canada being the largest buyer of US exports.
Trump has echoed Israel’s position that recognising Palestine “is rewarding terrorists”, as Iddo Moed, Israel’s ambassador to Canada, told Canada’s public broadcaster CBC.
With many of his supporters increasingly opposing Israel’s war in Gaza, Trump previously criticised the UK’s plan to grant recognition as “rewarding Hamas”, telling journalists on Air Force One that the US was “not in that camp”. Trump also said: “You’re rewarding Hamas if you do that. I don’t think they should be rewarded.”
Trump’s latest broadside at Canada comes amid other attempts to use tariffs as leverage over the domestic and foreign policies of other nations.
He has promised to raise tariffs on Brazil to 50%, linking it to the prosecution of his ally, former president Jair Bolsonaro, and recently threatened 15% additional tariffs on India for buying Russian oil, having fallen out with Putin over the war in Ukraine.
Thursday’s announcement of a US trade deal with Thailand and Cambodia also followed Trump’s demand that the two sides end the military skirmishes that broke out last week.
