Trump mocks Canada’s handling of wildfires with massive ‘air filter’ along border
· Toronto Sun
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Donald Trump is trolling Canada about its wildfires once again.
The American president shared a post on his Truth Social account over the weekend, deriding how Canada’s management of the ongoing blazes.
The post comes amid his criticism of Canada’s handling of the wildfires but also his proposal to add pollution-related costs to tariffs on Canadian imports.
Trump, 80, posted an AI-generated image of a massive filter along a border wall between Canada and the United States alongside a sign that reads: “North America Air Filter Barrier. Clean Air. Clean Borders.”
A Canadian flag appears on the left, and an American flag sits on the right side of the giant air filter barrier that is labelled, “MERV 16 High Efficiency Particulate Air Filter.”
Trump’s post comes weeks after smoke from Canadian wildfires began drifting south and blanketing the air in many U.S. cities.
Certain U.S. regions, including the Great Lakes, Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, were also impacted by the fires, with more than 100 million people exposed to dangerous air quality as the smoke continued to head south, CNN reported.
Four Republican members of the U.S. Congress accused Canadian officials of not doing enough to prevent wildfires and failing to address the underlying causes of worsening blazes.
“Our constituents in Michigan are once again under air quality alerts. Our hospitals are once again treating children, dialysis patients, and older residents for the effects of smoke that did not originate anywhere near them,” the lawmakers said in a letter addressed to Prime Minister Mark Carney.
“We were told the causes, chronic under-investment in forest thinning, fuel reduction, and prescribed burns, along with inadequate enforcement against arson, were being addressed. They were not, or not adequately enough to matter to the people we represent,” they wrote.
‘Willful negligence’
The dangerously unhealthy levels from the smoke has become an increasing bone of contention for Trump, who told reporters on Friday that Canada needs to halt the fires or face even greater trade tariffs.
In a previous Truth Social post, Trump slammed Canada’s handling of the wildfires, calling it “willful negligence.”
He wrote on July 17 : “We are holding Canada responsible for the fact that they are not properly maintaining their Forests, and brush therein, and the United States is being unnecessarily invaded by filthy, polluted and unhealthy air.”
Trump added: “This is Willful Negligence, and becoming a yearly occurrence, costing the United States Billions of Dollars, which cost of this pollution must of necessity be added to the TARIFFS Canada is currently paying.”
Ford fires back
While Carney has said Canada is doing everything possible to get the wildfires out of control, a disappointed Ontario Premier Doug Ford blasted Trump’s latest tariff threat.
“Our message to President Trump is that if he actually does his due diligence, one of the largest fires started from Minnesota,” Ford said last week.
“That’s not a knock against Minnesota, because (Minnesota) Gov. (Tim) Walz and I have an incredible relationship.”
There are 894 active wildfires burning in Canada as of Tuesday, including 12 new fires, according to the government of Canada’s website, with 117 of those burning in northwestern Ontario, per the province’s Ministry of Natural Resources.