US ambassador suggests Trump could blame Canada if midterm elections don’t go the way he wants | Canada

The U.S. ambassador suggested Canada could be blamed if Republicans perform poorly in next week’s midterm elections, the latest intervention from a controversial figure accused of stoking a bitter conflict that has angered and disconcerted residents of both countries.

On Wednesday, CTV News reported that Pete Hoekstra told business leaders in a closed-door meeting that if a number of swing races – including Maine and Michigan – went to Democrats, it could make things more difficult for Canada, as Donald Trump could try to pin the defeat on him.

“It’s an interesting way of putting it,” Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters when asked about the allegations.

For months, Canada and the United States have been engaged in a bitter tariff war, with Ottawa retaliating against illegal U.S. tariffs and targeting goods from states that rely heavily on trade with Canada.

Carney said Canada would “pursue” such a deal if it came along, but that Ottawa’s trade negotiators are “not in that position at the moment.”

Hoekstra is a deeply polarizing figure in Canada, particularly because of his response to Trump’s rhetoric about Canada being the 51st U.S. state. Speaking to a Michigan radio station last year, he described the threats as a “sign of affection” and questioned why Canadians were offended by what he called a “generous offer.” He previously called the 2025 Canadian federal election “un-American.”

This year, a House of Commons petition signed by more than 225,000 Canadians called for his expulsion, suggesting his statements violated diplomatic protocols, including the ban on diplomats interfering in the internal affairs of a host country.

Most recently, Hoekstra has accused Canadian officials of meddling in U.S. elections, pointing to Canadian politicians who have criticized tariffs in U.S. media and anti-tariff advertising from the province of Ontario that aired on U.S. television.

“We see all of this. We monitor it. We evaluate it. And if any of this turns into election interference, America will respond to it,” Hoekstra, a Michigan native, recently said on a Canadian podcast, adding that Canadians should “keep their noses out of American politics.”

Canadian Industry Minister Mélanie Joly, who was the target of Hoekstra’s comments, told reporters in Ottawa that her country “would never do this” and said Canada “would never accept this being done to us in Canada as well.”

Carney, while in Turkey, told reporters that the allegations of interference had “no basis” and that he was “disappointed that their envoy sees it as his role to make these suggestions.”

Roland Paris, director of the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa and foreign affairs adviser to former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, said the remarks were an “extraordinary thing” for a U.S. ambassador to say about his host country and seemed like an attempt to “manufacture a pretext for the Trump administration’s own political difficulties.”

“The job of an ambassador is to represent the interests of his country, but it is also to maintain channels of communication, establish relationships and manage disagreements,” he said.

“His comments have continued to escalate tensions instead of helping to manage them. I don’t think he serves American interests very well. I’m not even sure he serves the interests of his president.”

Paris highlights a poll carried out in the United States which shows that voters increasingly associate customs tariffs, war and the cost of living. There is also widespread confusion about why the White House has chosen to treat Canada as a trade adversary.

“It certainly doesn’t work in Canada. On the contrary. It seems that every time Mr. Hoekstra opens his mouth, Canadians are more determined than before to resist the bullying of the Trump administration,” he said. “This does not serve American interests.”

The American embassy denied this. Hoekstra said Canada would be blamed for the poor Republican performance, suggesting the remarks had been “grossly taken out of context” from the broader debate.

“The ambassador has consistently stated that the Canadian media is trying to exaggerate the relevance of Canadian issues in the U.S. elections. As we have previously stated, Americans will decide the U.S. elections based on the issues they care about,” the embassy said in a statement.

Last year, at an event hosted by Canadian American Business, Hoekstra delivered what witnesses described as an expletive-laden tirade against Ontario’s trade representative after the province aired a series of anti-tariff ads in the United States featuring Ronald Reagan. The premier of Ontario called the outburst “absolutely unacceptable” and “unworthy of an ambassador.”

Last week, Barack Obama highlighted the unusual choice to attack a longtime ally during a speech at a Democratic rally in Detroit, mocking Trump’s obsession with Canada and jokingly calling its northern neighbor a “well-known evil empire.”

“Our historic adversary: ​​Canada,” declared the former American president. “It’s your neighbor! It’s a short drive from the bridge. These are the people who gave us Martin Short…and maple syrup. They’re the nicest people. And somehow we made them so angry.”