[Harry Lime]

I don't think that I've ever quoted myself, but this problem just played itself out in real time. I thought that this was important enough to post, and then it was immediately buried in three pages of absolute nonsense.

There is a lot of good in this thread, and but Wastedyouth and a retort should have been two posts. Constantly burying the lead, just feeds apathy.

I just watched the full Sam Sieder show, debating with conservatives (a clip shown earlier in the thread), and the trade wars and threatening Canada didn't even make the show. It's so out of the news cycle in the States, I don't know if it's widely known that it happening.

Crazy.

Originally Posted by Harry Lime

This was sent to me via a poster named Mugsy Margarit (to give credit). It's interesting to see it all written down in one place, and might be a bit of a valuable reference.

The barrage of information is often used as a weapon, so that readers quickly move onto whatever is the new exciting headline.

Spoiler!

Nov 30th, 2018 - The United States, Canada and Mexico finalize a trade agreement. Trump personally negotiates the terms and signs the document, celebrating it as 'the greatest trade agreement in history". (This is important.)

Nov 29th, 2024 - In a face to face meeting, Trump threatens the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, that he will be imposing 25% tariffs and that if Canada wants to avoid that, it should join the US as a state.

Nov 30th, 2024 - Trump publicly calls our Prime Minister 'Governor Trudeau' and instructs his staff to only address him as Governor going forward. He again suggests Canada should join the USA.

Dec 3rd, 2024 - Trump remarks that he would split Canada into two states once annexed.

Dec 10th, 2024 - Trump posts that the majority of Canadians support annexation, despite public polling that only 13% of Canadians would consider the idea.

Dec 18th, 2024 - Trump again falsely states that the majority of Canadians support annexation and that one of his lapdogs, Wayne Gretzky, should have a leadership role in that new scenario.

Jan 7th, 2025 - At a press conference, Trump says that he would use economic force to destroy the Canadian economy to annex it.

Jan 14, 2025 - Trump again claims that most Canadians want to be American, despite new polls showing only 10% of us are open to the idea.

Jan 20th, 2025 - During his inaugural address, Trump says that the U.S. will 'expand its territory' during his second term.

Jan 23rd, 2025 - At the World Economic Forum, Trump says that Canada can avoid tariffs and economic collapse if it joins the US. He says this in front of representatives from most countries in the world.

Jan 24th, 2025 - Trump states publicly that Canada 'will' become a state

Jan 31st, 2025 - Trump announces a 25% tariff on all Canadian imports to begin the next day.

Feb 2nd, 2025 - Trump refers to Canada as its 'Cherished 51st state' and that it should join the US to avoid tariffs.

Feb 3rd, 2025 - A one month delay is agreed upon. Trump, in a conversation with Trudeau states that he doesn't think existing border treaties with Canada are valid, and need to be revised.

Feb 7th, 2025 - In a closed door meeting with his cabinet, Prime Minister Trudeau is recorded, without his knowledge, telling everyone that he believes very strongly that Trump is serious and that he stated his reason for annexation as Canadian resources.

Feb 9th, 2025 - In a Super Bowl pre-game interview, Trump says that he's serious about his threats, calling it a 'viable consideration for expanding US territory'

Feb 10th, 2025 - Trump announces an additional 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada to come into effect March 12th.

Feb 24th, 2025 - Trump publicly remarks that whoever signed the USMCA agreement is an idiot. He was the one that signed it.

March 4th, 5th, and 6th 2025 - Tariffs come into effect. Canada retaliates with it's own tariffs. Tariffs are again postponed until April 1st after a huge market backlash.

March 4th, 2025 - In an address to a joint session of congress, Trump states that the US will own Greenland 'one way or the other'.

March 5th, 2025 - US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick told Canadian finance minister Dominic LeBlanc that Trump "had come to realize that the relationship between the United States and Canada was governed by a slew of agreements and treaties that were easy to abandon."

March 7th, 2025 - Unconfirmed Memorandum and maps leaked on twitter reveal Trump is allegedly planning to annex the entirety of the great lakes and Southern Ontario, home to 13,491,332 Canadians. This amounts to 35.25% of Canada's total population and includes its largest city, Toronto. This region accounts for 38% of the Canadian economy, and its loss would make Canada's independence functionally impossible.

March 8th, 2025 - Canada's foreign minister warns European allies that their government considers Canada to be under existential threat.

March 9th, 2025 - Mark Carney, the new Canadian Prime Minister, in his acceptance speech, states that Trump is seeking to destroy Canada, and its way of life.

March 11, 2025 - President Trump threatens to “permanently shut down the automobile manufacturing business in Canada” if Canada does not drop a 250% to 390% tariff on U.S. dairy products, which he doesn’t state only kicks in after a certain quantity of tariff-free U.S. dairy enters Canada, a quantity that was originally negotiated and agreed to by Trump during the USMCA in 2018.

In Trump's own words, "The only thing that makes sense is for Canada to become our cherished Fifty First State. This would make all Tariffs, and everything else, totally disappear. Canadians’ taxes will be very substantially reduced, they will be more secure, militarily and otherwise, than ever before, there would no longer be a Northern Border problem, and the greatest and most powerful nation in the World will be bigger, better and stronger than ever — And Canada will be a big part of that. The artificial line of separation drawn many years ago will finally disappear, and we will have the safest and most beautiful Nation anywhere in the World — And your brilliant anthem, “O Canada,” will continue to play, but now representing a GREAT and POWERFUL STATE within the greatest Nation that the World has ever seen!"

March 11th, 2025 PT. II - Peter Navarro, a Senior Advisor for Trump is interviewed by MSNBC. When asked about the tariffs he responds with "Just tamp it down, please, over there, ok? They're throwing down the hockey gloves. Stop that rhetoric...we're not going to tolerate anything but them stopping killing Americans", insinuating that this situation was caused by Canadians killing Americans.

March 11th, 2025 PT III - Trump again publicly muses that Canada, Greenland, and the US should be one country, and questions the validity of the Canadian and American border.