Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Wednesday he’s a “tough guy” well suited to take on U.S. President Donald Trump and that’s why the American leader said he thinks it’s easier to “deal with a liberal” in Canada than a conservative.
The comment comes as Poilievre and his main opponent, Prime Minister Mark Carney, both jockey to present themselves as the anti-Trump candidate in the upcoming federal election, which is expected to be dominated by talk of the president’s punishing tariffs and annexationist taunts.
Speaking to reporters in Sudbury, Ont., Poilievre spun Trump’s comments as an endorsement of Carney and a sign the president “wants the Liberals in power.”
He said the president wants “weak, compromised and conflicted leadership.… That’s why he endorsed Mark Carney yesterday.”
Trump did not mention either Poilievre or Carney by name in his remarks or formally endorse anyone.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who was asked Wednesday about Donald Trump’s recent comment that he’d ‘rather deal with a liberal than a conservative,’ said he believes the U.S. president wants the Liberals in power because ‘they will keep this country weak.’
In an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, Trump was pressed on why he’s been harder on Canada with his tariffs and threats than some of America’s “adversaries.”
The president said, without explaining how, that Canada “cheats” and “charges” the U.S. and repeated his false claims about Americans “subsidizing” this country to the tune of $200 billion a year. The U.S. trade deficit with Canada — which is largely driven by cheap oil imports — is much smaller than that.
Laura Ingraham, the Fox host, said Trump’s tough talk on Canada has buoyed the governing Liberal Party and threatened the Conservatives’ election chances, which could be seen as a loss for the U.S.
Trump said he doesn’t care about Conservative electoral fortunes because Poilievre is “stupidly no friend of mine,” an apparent reference to Poilievre saying in the past he’s not a “MAGA guy.“
“I don’t know him but he’s said negative things,” Trump said of Poilievre.
“So, when he says negative things, I don’t care. I actually think it’s easier to deal with a liberal and maybe they’re going to win, but I don’t really care. It doesn’t matter to me at all.”
Trump denounced former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s team, however, saying “his people were nasty.” Trump has previously criticized Transport Minister Chrystia Freeland, who helped broker the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) in his first term.
Poilievre said he’s the leader to stand up to Trump because the Liberals will just leave Canada in a weakened position and susceptible to possible annexation.
“What Canadians need is a leader who’s tough, firm and stands by his convictions, a leader who will make us strong, self-reliant and able to stand on its own two feet, a leader who will put Canada first,” Poilievre said.
“I’m a strong leader, I’m a tough guy to deal with,” Poilievre said, while noting Carney was chairman of the board of Brookfield Asset Management when it moved its head office to New York.
While Trump said he doesn’t care about how well Poilievre fares in an election that could come as soon as this weekend, the president’s friend and political ally, Elon Musk, has praised Poilievre, reposted his tweets, applauded his speeches and media interactions.
The Liberals have tried to paint Poilievre as a mini-Trump who will kowtow to a fellow populist leader, if elected.
In his victory speech after winning the party’s leadership, Carney said Poilievre will leave Canada “divided and ready to be conquered.”
“A person who worships at the altar of Donald Trump will kneel before him, not stand up to him.”
Carney’s party posted an ad on its social media channels called “Made in America,” which shows how Poilievre has said similar things to Trump over the years and asks, “how can you speak for Canada when you sound like Donald Trump?”
Both Trump and Poilievre have called some of the news media “fake news,” lamented that “everything is broken,” denounced supposed left-wing “censorship,” lampooned the “woke” and “radical” left and supported the trucker convoy movement that took over Parliament Hill back in the COVID era.
Trump has an “America first” agenda and Poilievre has said he will put “Canada first.”
While there are sometimes rhetorical similarities between the two, Poilievre has vowed to take a stand against Trump and his trade action, calling for retaliatory tariffs on American goods to try and get the president to back off.
The Conservative leader has also not made immigration the central message of his platform, unlike the president.
The Liberal government has already imposed tariffs on about $60 billion worth of American goods with $100 billion more to come if Trump moves ahead with more tariffs on April 2.
In the early days of his premiership, Carney is taking steps to distance Canada from the U.S. and has said a call with Trump will only come when the time is right.
