Trump shocked to discover Canada under impression it is separate country

Donald Trump has expressed his shock after trade negotiations collapsed amid the extraordinary revelation that Canada believes itself to be an entirely separate country from the United States.

The US has imposed 50% tariffs on around $20bn of Canadian goods after negotiations broke down over demands which Canada said threatened its national sovereignty, including restrictions on its ability to make future trade deals with other countries and concerns around protections for the French language and Canadian culture.

White House spokesperson Chuck Williams explained, “President Trump is a passionate defender of national sovereignty and believes countries must be free to make their own decisions without interference from foreign governments.

“Obviously, we mean America’s national sovereignty.

“Canada appears to have misunderstood this principle and assumed it also applies to Canada.”

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney withdrew from negotiations after concluding the proposed agreement crossed several red lines, insisting any future deal must respect Canadian sovereignty.

Williams continued, “They genuinely seem to believe that things like Canadian trade policy, Canadian culture and Canadian industry should somehow be decided by Canadians.

“It’s an incredibly provocative position.

“Imagine if Canada tried telling America which countries it could sign trade agreements with. President Trump would quite rightly impose tariffs until they stopped interfering with our sovereignty.”

Trump has repeatedly suggested Canada should become America’s 51st state, which officials insisted would neatly resolve the current disagreement.

Williams added, “We’re not saying Canada can’t make its own decisions. Canada can make absolutely any decision it likes, provided it’s one of the decisions we’ve told it to make.

“That’s how sovereignty works.”

Canada has responded by announcing dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs on US goods from September 8.

The White House condemned the move as further evidence of Canada’s increasingly aggressive insistence on putting its own national interests first.

“President Trump has always been very clear that every government has a duty to put America First,” added Williams.

“Canada putting Canada first is therefore completely unacceptable.”