The Atlantic

Trump's Beef With Canadian Milk

Why pick a fight with Canada, of all places?
Source: Christinne Muschi / Reuters

President Trump’s Twitter jab at Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau—in which he publicly called the leader of an allied country “meek and mild,” plus “dishonest & weak”—spawned a mini–cottage industry of articles (including my own) on the fate of the U.S.-led Western world order. And at first glance it’s puzzling why Trump would pick a fight with Canada, of all places, just as he was departing a summit meeting there.

But in the same tweet he was pretty explicit about the source of his beef: It’s dairy. Referring to steel and aluminum tariffs he has imposed on Canada, : “Our Tariffs are in response to his of 270% on dairy!” He has a point. But Trump’s complaint

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from The Atlantic

The Atlantic3 min read
They Rode the Rails, Made Friends, and Fell Out of Love With America
The open road is the great American literary device. Whether the example is Jack Kerouac or Tracy Chapman, the national canon is full of travel tales that observe America’s idiosyncrasies and inequalities, its dark corners and lost wanderers, but ult
The Atlantic6 min read
There’s Just One Problem With Gun Buybacks
One warm North Carolina fall morning, a platoon of Durham County Sheriff’s Office employees was enjoying an exhibit of historical firearms in a church parking lot. They were on duty, tasked with running a gun buyback, an event at which citizens can t
The Atlantic8 min readAmerican Government
The Return of the John Birch Society
Michael Smart chuckled as he thought back to their banishment. Truthfully he couldn’t say for sure what the problem had been, why it was that in 2012, the John Birch Society—the far-right organization historically steeped in conspiracism and oppositi

Related Books & Audiobooks