What is President Trump’s “Peace Commission”?
Members of President Trump’s Peace Commission include Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Türkiye, and Belarus.
President Donald Trump threatened to impose 100% tariffs on imports from Canada if it moves forward with a trade deal with China in a January 24 Truth social post, following a series of insults directed at the neighboring country during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, earlier this week.
Referring to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney as “Governor Carney” – continuing his oft-stated desire to annex Canada and incorporate it into the 51st nation.cent President Trump wrote that if Mr. Carney “thinks Canada is going to become a ‘port of call’ for China to send goods and products to the United States, he is sorely mistaken.”
“China will eat Canada alive and completely devour it, including the destruction of its own business, social structure and general way of life,” he wrote. “If Canada signs a deal with China, it would immediately impose 100 per cent tariffs on all Canadian goods and products imported into the United States.”
President Trump has been furious with Carney since his high-profile speech in Davos, in which he spoke of a “disruption” in the world order and made it clear that Canada opposes tariffs on Greenland and firmly supports Denmark on sovereignty over the Arctic island.
“We are in the midst of a discontinuity, not a transition,” Carney said on January 20. “Great powers are beginning to use economic integration as a weapon.”
“For a middle power like Canada, the question is not whether we will adapt to this new reality; we must adapt,” Carney said. “The middle powers have to act together, because if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu,” Carney said.
President Trump countered that Canada should be “thankful” to the United States, but “we’re not.”
President Trump said on January 21: “By the way, Canada gets a lot of freebies from us. Canada lives because of the United States. Mark, please remember that next time you speak.”
The next day, President Trump announced on Truth Social that he was removing Carney from the peace commission created to help rebuild Gaza, which has since expanded to include other conflicts.
“The Peace Committee withdraws at any time Canada’s invitation to participate in the most prestigious summit ever assembled,” President Trump wrote on January 22.
Matthew Holmes, director of public policy at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement to USA TODAY on Jan. 24 that the Canadian government has made clear that the agreement with China is about domestic consumers and businesses in Canada and China, and “is not a plan for other markets.”
“At the same time, the United States said it is also pursuing new trade engagement with China,” Holmes said. “No company can survive forever with just one customer. Structured and stable relationships with China and other countries, such as new relationships with Indonesia and the UAE, will not replace a deep-rooted relationship with the United States.”
Canada has not yet reached a trade agreement with the United States, and the 2020 Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement is subject to review this year.
Three hours after his initial post on Truth Social, President Trump fired off a new official document regarding the China-Canada Agreement at 11:36 a.m.
“The last thing the world needs is for China to take over Canada,” he wrote. “It’s not going to happen or it’s not going to happen!”
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is USA TODAY’s White House correspondent. You can follow her at X @SwapnaVenugopal.
