“I’m not MAGA—I’m Canada First, always,” Poilievre
Canadian leaders are hitting back at U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest salvo of insults, with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre rejecting the “MAGA” label and Chrystia Freeland brushing off personal jabs with a vow to fight for Canada. The rebuttals come after Trump took aim at both in a sprawling Friday morning interview with The Spectator’s Ben Domenech, escalating his verbal assault on Canada’s sovereignty.
“I’m not MAGA—I’m Canada First, always,” Poilievre fired off on X Friday afternoon, hours after Trump’s remarks surfaced. “We’re America’s closest ally, but never its 51st state.” Trump had scoffed at Poilievre’s supposed bravado, warning he’d made “the mistake” of trying to “knock out Trump.” “They all try it,” Trump sneered, “and they get the hell beat out of them.”
The nearly hour-long chat also saw Trump target Freeland, Canada’s former deputy prime minister, branding her a “whack” and “incompetent.” He claimed her December exit from cabinet stemmed from his own nudge to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. “She’s toxic—terrible for Canada,” Trump said, crowing that Trudeau “fired her after our meeting.” On Truth Social, he added, “She won’t be missed!!!!”
Freeland clapped back on X: “Trump insults me for the same reason Putin kicked me out of Russia—I don’t back down, and they know it. I’m ready to fight for Canada—and win.” Her resignation blindsided the Liberal brass last December, with senior PMO aides learning of it mere hours before her public letter called it “the only honest path.” A PMO spokesperson declined comment to CTVNews.ca.
The barbs are just the latest in Trump’s campaign against Canada since his election win last fall. After unveiling steep tariffs on Canadian goods, he floated the 51st-state idea during a tense Mar-a-Lago summit with Trudeau—initially laughed off as a quip by Ottawa. But the notion has since snowballed. By early February, Trudeau warned business leaders the annexation threat was “real,” while Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey noted Trump “definitively” eyes Canada as a state. The “Governor Trudeau” jab has stuck, joining Trump’s roster of rival nicknames.
The Spectator interview, hosted by Domenech—who dubbed Freeland the “nuttiest” of Liberal leadership hopefuls—fanned the flames. The U.K.-based magazine, billing itself as the “oldest in English,” prides itself on “firm, but unfair” takes over impartiality.
Trump’s shadow looms large over Canada’s political scene. A Tuesday Nanos Research poll found one in five Canadians citing U.S. relations and Trump as the top national concern—outranking jobs, health care, and inflation. Freeland has pegged countering him as the “foundation” of her economic vision, a stance now tested outside cabinet.
For Poilievre and Freeland, Trump’s taunts are a call to arms—one met with a unified cry: Canada bends for no one.