GOP senator defends Canada after Trump attacks
By Jacqueline Thomsen (thehill.com) / June 11 2018
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) came to the defense of Canada following attacks on Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau by President Trump and some of his top advisers.
“We’ve had differences w/ Canada over the years, particularly regarding subsidies from the provincial & nat’l governments; nevertheless, Canada remains our close ally, good friend, & one of America’s biggest trading partners,” Collins tweeted Sunday.
The senator said that “border communities” like those in Maine and Canada are “truly intertwined,” adding that the U.S. “must preserve this friendship.”
Trump and some of his top economic aides targeted Trudeau over the weekend after the Canadian leader criticized steep tariffs imposed by the U.S. on Canadian steel and aluminum imports.
The president called Trudeau “weak & dishonest” in a tweet after the Group of 7 (G-7) summit on Saturday, after Trudeau said that his country would not be “pushed around” by the U.S. on trade and discussed retaliatory tariffs.
Trump doubled down on his criticism of other countries on trade in a series of tweets on Sunday night.
On Sunday, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow called Trudeau’s comments “a betrayal” and trade official Peter Navarro said there was a “special place in hell” for leaders like Trudeau who double-cross Trump.
Canada’s foreign minister Chrystia Freeland responded Sunday, saying that the country does not find that “ad hominem attacks are a particularly appropriate or useful way to conduct our relations with other countries.”
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/391604-gop-senator-defends-canada-after-trump-attacks
