The Ben Mulroney Show - Donald Trump vs. Justin Trudeau: Who's at fault for the potential American/Canadian Trade War?

Episode Date: January 21, 2025

Donald Trump vs. Justin Trudeau: Who's at fault for the potential American/Canadian Trade War? If you enjoyed the podcast, tell a friend! For more of the Ben Mulroney Show, subscribe to the podcast! https://globalnews.ca/national/program/the-ben-mulroney-show Follow Ben on Twitter/X at https://x.com/BenMulroney Enjoy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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And Canada was left off the list. He was, well let's take a listen, before we go into the tariffs, let's listen to that moment where Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president. Please raise your right hand and repeat after me. I, Donald John Trump, do solemnly swear. I, Donald John Trump, do solemnly swear. That I will faithfully execute. that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend. Preserve, protect and defend. The Constitution of the United States. The Constitution of the United States. So help me God. So help me God. Congratulations Mr. Cunha.

Yeah, so that happened and a lot of people were holding their breath. What was going to come next? And what came next was a reprieve of sorts for Canada and Mexico. But not for long, not for long, Donald Trump mused about slapping 25% tariffs on Canada on a particular date.

We're thinking in terms of 25% on Mexico and Canada because they're allowing vast numbers of people, Canada's a very bad abuser also, vast numbers of people to come in and Fentanyl to come in. I think we'll do it February 1st. So he said February 1st, but earlier this morning I had a chance to chat with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, who in my estimation has had more face time with the president in anticipation of him becoming the 47 president again,

more so than anyone. And she was down in Washington for the inauguration. She, I believe, has built a personal rapport with the president, possibly with the president, most certainly with members of his administration. And she believes that the president might have misspoken. She believes that the date would be a little bit later than that, and I'll let her tell you about that in our next segment. That's when you'll hear our full conversation with Danielle Smith. It is an eye opening conversation with a Canadian leader who has thought long and hard about Canada and our our place in the world. And it's absolutely worth a

listen. I highly urge you to stick around for our next segment in conversation with Danielle Smith. There has been a tradition in the United States where the outgoing president leaves a letter for the incoming president in the desk of the resolute in the drawer of the resolute desk. And I guess Donald Trump really let the the press enjoy every moment of his first day in office he kept them around cameras were rolling and we actually witnessed the moment that he discovered the letter let's listen

President Biden leaves you a letter. He may have. Don't they leave it in the desk? I don't know. Oh, thank you, Peter. It could have been years before we got this. Wow. Thank you. Maybe we should all read it together. Well, maybe I'll read it first and then make that determination. Let's read it. Well, maybe I'll read it first and then make that determination. Yeah, his tone is striking me as interesting. I remember when he assumed office in 2016.

He really looked like a guy who was caught flat footed. He looked like a man who felt the weight of the moment on his shoulders. I was hoping that that moment would cause Donald Trump to change his perspective and change his attitude and change his tone. It did not. But this is a very relaxed man taking office. This is a man comfortable with the position he now finds himself in. He's able to joke and he seems very relaxed.

And we got a little more insight into what to expect from Donald Trump, where he promised to drill baby drill. The inflation crisis was caused by massive overspending and escalating energy prices. And that is why today I will also declare a national energy emergency. We will drill, baby, drill. America will be a manufacturing nation once again, and we have something that no other manufacturing nation will ever have the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on earth.

And we are going to use it. Manufacturing. Okay. You know, you also talked about how he's going to build cars and trucks faster than ever. And I have spoken to a number of people who have told me that business leaders from across this country have been steadily going in and out of Mar-a-Lago in anticipation of his inauguration, letting him know in no uncertain terms that in order for a car to become a car, parts have to go across back and forth across the Canadian US border nine times

before those parts are manufactured into an actual car that can be sold. Reminding him that if that 25% tariff is levied, then that 25% tariff is going to be levied every time those parts cross the border. And so the they're, they're trying to get him to appreciate how truly integrated the supply chain is in terms of the automotive manufacturing system. And so that 25% tariff is just going to keep growing and growing and growing. I have no idea what that's going to do to the cost of a Chevy or a Ford, but it's not

going to make them cheaper for Canadians or Americans. That's for sure. And I know that that has been impressed upon him, which may be one of the reasons he didn't automatically turn on the tariff tap yesterday, because I think he wants to do a deep dive into what that's going to cost the American, the American automotive purchaser. So maybe that has something to do with it. But. One thing is for sure, Donald Trump believes, I don't know if he believed it before,

I know he had visions, delusions of grandeur, but he does believe that he was touched by the hand of God to do something special. The journey to reclaim our republic has not been an easy one, that I can tell you. Those who wish to stop our cause have tried to take my freedom and indeed to take my life. Just a few months ago in a beautiful Pennsylvania field an assassin's bullet ripped through my ear but I felt then and believe even more so now that my life was saved for a reason. I was saved by God to make America great again.

You know, if you've seen the path of that bullet, and if you see how he turned his head just at the moment where it nicked his ear, it's a pretty strong case. I don't necessarily believe it, but that's some pretty compelling evidence in favor of what he's saying. That's some pretty compelling evidence in favor of what he's saying. And I think a lot of us. Believed that he had a dubious appreciation of religion before, but maybe this did bring him closer to God, which I don't know. I see that as a net positive. We'll have we'll have to see. There were some viral moments yesterday, for sure.

Mark Zuckerberg caught staring at the cleavage of Jeff Bezos' girlfriend during the inauguration. And if you've seen what she wore, she wore lingerie. She wore lingerie with a blazer. And for those of you who don't know Lauren Sanchez, and that's how her name is pronounced, Lauren Sanchez, I've met her a number of times. I met her when she was a local California

television personality. And back then, she was, she led with her natural assets, which you may believe are not so natural. But she did it back then. And she's doing it now. And look, I don't believe Mark Zuckerberg ever saw a pair of breasts until he made his first billion. That's my that's my guess. until he made his first billion. That's my guess. And so he was caught staring. The fact that the president has given us, I don't know, a little bit of time.

What does that signal to you? Does that signal that he wants a deal? Does it signal that he wants to light a fire under the feds? Does it signal that he doesn't want to put these tariffs in? Or maybe he does. I don't know. Tell me what you think. I think that he needs to be able to show that his threat for tariffs worked, that

he got something out of it from Canada that made the lives of Americans better or safer. And I don't believe that we've seen enough from the federal government that would make him say he's not going to put those tariffs on. Now, he may not put 25% tariffs on. I think he wanted to give himself a ceiling to work with. I don't know what the floor is. I hope the floor is zero, but we'll have to see. But the fact that he didn't do that on day one when he could have, I mean, he signed a hundred executive orders yesterday. Could have been very easy for him to impose those tariffs. But I do believe that the conversations with Danielle Smith, with other premiers, I do

believe that that has colored his image of what the impact of those tariffs would be. Let's welcome Frank to the show. Frank, welcome to the Ben Mulroney show. Good morning, Ben. I think Trump's deferral on making this decision down the road is giving Canada now when all these other countries where the threats have been kind of suggested in the past,

it's an opportunity to fairly negotiate. And I think that, and this includes with regard to the current federal liberal government, it's an opportunity to change the ideological approach in terms of how they're dealing with things and dealing with issues. I don't think at this point, Ben, that Canada, Ontario, and all the provinces should come together and use as a strategy the approach that Premier Smith from Alberta had used to make inroads in the Trump administration. I think we need a global mandate right now and to use that as a basis because to me that

is the most important thing. Trump is going to want some concessions, fair concessions, and this is the only way that we can do it. Well, Frank, Frank, I don't know that I don't know that he's looking to negotiate right now. He's told us exactly what he wants. He wants the border to be secured. He wants us to beef up our our military budget. He wants to make sure that human migration and drug smuggling are a thing of the past

across the border. That's what he wants. And right now, it feels like in Ottawa, we've got people who are bumbling and stumbling their way through a leadership race when we should be focused entirely on this crisis and real leadership. leadership recognizes not you versus me, it's us versus the problem. And Danielle Smith, I believe, is putting forth a vision, and she's going to talk about it on the show later on. But she's putting forth a vision where it would really be every province in it together facing every problem that faces the country. And I think that is I think that is real leadership. You know, you can you can take issue with her if you want. But

on this file on on this vision for Canada, I came I came away quite inspired. Who do we have next? We've got john john, welcome to the show. Hi, Ben, what a pleasure talking to you for the first time. I'm a regular caller. I speak to the on the Alex Pearson show and everybody else. What a pleasure talking to you, sir. time. I'm a regular caller. I speak to the on the Alex Pearson show and everybody else. What a pleasure talking to you, sir. Thank you very much.

I'm talking with my wife here, Robin in Oshawa, and we've discussed this and I'm not the brightest bulb in the box, but I'm pretty good. I've retired now, so I've got way too much time on my hands. And I, I've analyzed the situation at Trudeau, Carney, Freeland, all of a sudden their team Canada, all of a sudden the parole parliament, all of a sudden the Parole Parliament, and all of a sudden Trudeau's got this idea, let's get all these premiers together, put the heat on Daniel Smith, and we'll block the oil. Of course, the oil that Carney has in Saudi Arabia and his company or divestments of it.

I just smell a rat. Something's weird going on. Our government up here doesn't function. Nothing's working. It's totally screwed up. But they have the time to get together with all the boys in the room, cigars with frittle and come up with this team Canada game plan to do it to the Americans. I tell you what, if you want to play this game with Trump, they better have full gear on because they're going to get hammered. Daniel Smith is right. We should have built pipelines 20

years ago when I voted for Harper the first time and If we had those pipelines and the refineries to take care of the oil we would not be in this problem Oh, yeah, I said, but I smell a rat I smell Between Ford. Oh, I won't touch car parts and I'm not going to touch the auto industry in Ontario But Daniel Smith better get that put oil on the table. That is hypocrisy at the top Top and I think it's disgusting. Watch Trudeau, watch Freeland, watch Carney. Something's going on. There's something going on. They want to dismantle country and this is the way they're going to do it as they sink the ship at the same time.

Well, John, I hope you're wrong. I hope you're wrong. And I do thank you for your call and I hope you call in again. We've got lots of people calling in. Thank you so much. Ed, welcome to the show. Hey, Ben. Hey. How are you this morning? I'm well, thank you. I loved your rant this morning. It sounded really good. Thank you. I had a lot of coffee. Ben, I think the Trump government does not want to deal with any liberal period.

They're just waiting. I hope he makes a note of it somehow. So listen, I want to deal with Polie F. And that's it. Yeah, that's it. Because Paulie F wants to do what you want to do, I believe, like the same type of like, let's move forward together as a partnership. Yeah. He does not want to deal with any of those people. Freeland, Kearney, nobody. I think I think you're right. but I mean, they're playing, the liberals and the NDP have been playing keep away with our vote and our ability to hold them to account

for forever, as I've said many times before. The glory and almost ingrained in minority governments in this country, when we elect a minority government, it's because we want to pull the plug somewhere between eight, nine and 18 months in. minority governments in this country. When we when we elect a minority government, it's because we want to pull the plug somewhere between eight, nine and 18 months in. This government has been going strong for four years because they have deprived us of what we what we told them we wanted, which was a minority government.

And this could go on until October. This could go on till October. So I don't know what to tell you. Like, I'm not I'm not I'm I'm I. I'm not. I'm, I'm, I'm frustrated. I'm as frustrated as everybody else. And what what Trump wants is not necessarily what Trudeau is going to give us, but we're going to have to wait and see. Let me put a different question to you. Who do you blame? Who do you blame

for these this looming tariff threat this crisis on our shores? Do you blame Donald Trump is the one who's this looming tariff threat, this crisis on our shores. Do you blame, Donald Trump is the one who's threatening them, but Donald Trump, as far as I'm concerned, is only saying what so many of us have said for so many years, that on a great many serious files, we are a very unserious country. He is calling us out.

He is calling us out for living in a fantasy land where you don't have to living in a fantasy land where you don't have to invest in the military, where you don't have to take care of your border, where you don't have to do a great number of things that we as a nation have shirked our responsibilities on. So I don't know that I necessarily blame him. I'm it's I know it's gonna hurt, but I don't necessarily blame him because a great many voices in this country have been calling for what he started calling for just a few months ago. The difference is he's got a bigger stick.

He's got a bigger stick and he can hurt us. So now we're taking him seriously. Now we're doing the things that we should have been doing years ago. So I don't know that I necessarily blame him. I don't like it, but I don't know that I blame him. I blame some of our leaders who haven't done the leading that we have needed. Let's welcome to the show. Who do we have? It's so hard to read this screen. Peter, Peter, what do you think about this whole mess? Well, I think there's 30 countries now that have joined brick and

Canada should join bricks and get rid of the G seven because the G seven is like an old tired boy who's got too much debt. You know, I'm going to need you to give me a little more than that, because that's a flashy thing to say, a controversial thing to say, but I need you to drill down a little bit, because if I had to pick a club to be in, I'd pick the UK, the US, France, and Germany and Japan over Russia and her friends any day of the week. Indonesia, Brazil.

Yeah. Let's see who else there's 30 countries involved. Yeah. In this thing. I mean, everybody except the Philippines, I guess. I mean, with three quarters of the population of the earth and the most 20 year old, you can sell more stuff to a 20 year old than you can to a 75 year old.

You understand what I'm saying? No, listen, there are numbers, but the GDP represented by the G7 dwarfs bricks every day of the week. There's more disposable income in the G7 than there is in bricks. And you may be right about certain things, but in terms of the values that are upheld in the g seven

in terms of democratic principles, free trade, I don't know that we necessarily speak the same language. I don't want to get in a bed with Russia. But I thank you for your call. It's a certainly an interesting intellectual exercise. Justin, Justin Trudeau,au welcome the show. God no. What's going on Justin. Honestly, then

it's like are we surprised with this, you know, like the liberals like I feel like this gaffled this whole thing man in true those really the head of the snake with like 12 different heads in there and you got Melanie Jolie seems like when she comes out she's always just got some sort of scapegoat you know some sort of little thing in mind I'm a millennial and this was something that I've heard from multiple people Pauliev other people we have like the second largest landmass in the world, let alone look at this, we have a natural refrigerator here.

And as a millennial, I don't understand why we're not utilizing this land, renting it out to companies, or even that are not even from Canada, leasing that land, you know, like natural refrigerator, natural resources. And Danielle Smith, I honestly, I think she's the first really person to come out

and say that out front. Like Paul Yev's been saying it, and he's all about that. I've heard him say it before about our natural refrigeration that set up data centers. Oh yeah, yeah. Well, Kevin O'Leary wants to set up a $70 billion data center, AI data center, in I think,

for north of Fort McMurray, I think. Anyway, thank you for your call, sir. Thank you, Justin. And who's next? Demetri, Demetri, welcome to the show. Hi, Ben. Let me just start off with that. I think you're fantastic. I love listening to you every day. So keep up the great work. Thank you. With respect to who's at fault, you know, for Canada to think that it can have separate foreign policy than the United States is just ludicrous. And actually, this is the origin of all of these issues. We are effectively the Belarus to Trump's Russia. So we better get aligned to me because we are the ones who get our security paid for by the US. Well, yes, we in the current status quo in the world that we've allowed ourselves to exist in when we've when we have not invested in our military. But you're absolutely right, we sort of have to do that. I mean, if he wanted to, he could he could roll across the border in about five minutes. But Canada is capable of defending its borders, we are capable of having an economy strong enough where we can do a great many things, including supporting our military, protecting our borders and projecting Canadian values, not American values, Canadian values around the world. We have given up on all of those things and looked inward all while pretending that we are some sort of valued voice in the world. And you cannot be a valued voice

unless you have the military strength that can project those values. So thank you very much for your call. Who do we have next? We've got Ben. Hey there, Ben, welcome to the show. Good morning. Who else is to blame other than the Trudeau

liberal government of the past almost decade? They've shirked everything. And I thank Trump for forcing their hand. The border, over 300, over 500 of the people on terrorist watch lists were caught by the US crossing into the US from Canada. We've got 30, 40,000 illegal undocumented migrants coming in, 90% of them coming through airports. That's a federal responsibility.

And then they go on this island and we have to pay for it. The Five Eyes Network Security Alliance has warned us before 2017 that we're being compromised by the CPP Chinese government. There's the Chinese, the Russians, and the Arctic constantly floating there, going over into our territory. We've done nothing on all fronts. The fentanyl. You know, Trudeau shows up on RuPaul's show twice.

He's never mentioned once about fentanyl. I have people in my family that got overdosed from laced drugs that they didn't know that was laced with fentanyl. I can't tell you, they failed on every single department, every single ministry. And I thank Trump for forcing their hand. Yeah, I hate that it's come to this. But I'm glad that the chickens are coming home to roost because there are people and there are voices in this country that have been

predicting this and have been worried about these issues. And we have a government in Ottawa that says, that everything's okay. We are here standing up for Canadians. We are here protecting Canadians, delivering for Canadians. They've done no such thing. They've done no such thing.

It's time to stop pretending and start to start. It's important to take the world as it is. And as the world is, we're not looking so hot. Eddie, welcome to the show. Yeah, Ben, we all had that one friend growing up in when we were younger when we went to the bar. He gets a little bit too tipsy and he starts to pick a fight with the biggest meanest guy in the bar.

And that's the kind of leadership that we have here at least with this premier threatening a force of nature like Donald Trump. I mean, that's a hurricane. I want no part of that. I don't want to pick a fight with this guy. He has 10 times our population. We're just a little mosquito on the ass of an elephant here. I don't see any way out of this.

I personally believe he's an expansionist president. I think he wants to be like Andrew Jackson. I think it was Andrew Jackson who purchased Louisiana from the French. I was the last president to I think expand the territory. I believe he's going to take Greenland. I don't know what's going to happen here, but he's a hurricane. And what do they say about a hurricane? Pack up and get out of the way. That's what I think. You shouldn't be picking a fight with this guy. Well, I mean, he picked the fight with us. And I agree with you.

It's not a fight we can win. I think we'll be hurt far more than the Americans will ever be hurt. But that doesn't mean we can't view this as an opportunity to have a real national conversation about some of the things that we've done to hobble ourselves and and and limit our ability as a nation to grow and and grow wealth and grow

Status and grow our voice and grow our vision and promote our values We can't do any of that Because the way we've built ourselves is about being the smallest version of ourselves. And I don't I don't subscribe to that. I never did. But now, our failings and our failures have been laid out for everyone to see. And we see exactly how we've limited our potential. These inter provincial trade barriers that people have been complaining

about for years are now being exposed as the internal self-imposed tariff that they are hobbling our internal ability to trade with each other. And this idea that we sell so much of our oil and natural resources to one client. That nonsense has been exposed. And so these people who've been fighting and railing against pipelines, I think their argument has been forever weakened. I think there's an opportunity to finally start taking our natural resources

and selling them to the highest GD bidder. That's what I think. She has partial retrograde amnesia. She can't remember the last eight years. Tuesdays. What are the odds I get my memories back? It's the brain. Nobody knows. I don't know who I am now.

But I will be a doctor again. I will do everything I can to get my life back.