Trump Promotes Victor Davis Hanson Video Calling Canada’s Trade Stance Self-Destructive
Trump shares a video by Hoover Institution historian Victor Davis Hanson arguing that Canada's trade policies, immigration model, and reliance on U.S. defense have left it economically exposed.
WASHINGTON D.C. — Donald J. Trump promoted a video by historian and Hoover® Institution senior fellow Victor Davis Hanson arguing that Canada’s trade policies, immigration model, and dependence on U.S. military protection have left the country economically exposed amid escalating tariff conflict with Washington.
Here is the full post on truthsocial: “ Victor Davis Hanson on Canada — A MUST SEE! Trump” on September 24, 2026 at 9:18 AM ET.
This is Trump’s 17th message released today, and the last post was 40 minutes ago, and it is not part of a thread. On average, Trump produces 17 posts per day since his inauguration on January 20, 2025. The move fits a broader pattern in Trump’s recent messaging, with 4 of his 60 posts over the last 30 days classified as Reposts & External Links posts.
The roughly 14-minute video, posted to Trump’s truthsocial account, features Hanson delivering a point-by-point critique of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and the direction of Canadian economic and immigration policy. Hanson argued that Canada, despite holding the world’s third-largest oil and gas reserves and vast mineral and timber wealth, has failed to develop those resources while running a persistent trade surplus with the United States and relying on American military infrastructure for its defense.
The White House said U.S. vehicle exports to Canada fell 22% over the prior year after Canada imposed 25% tariffs and company-specific quotas on American motor vehicles, and that U.S. alcohol exports collapsed 81% in a single year after Canada banned American wine, beer, and spirits in nearly every province and territory, according to whitehouse.gov. Canada has maintained an average annual goods trade deficit of roughly $50 billion with the United States over the last decade, the White House statement added, according to whitehouse.gov.
Hanson’s video argued that Canada’s dairy protection system, which imposes tariffs exceeding 200% on most dairy products once import quotas are exceeded, functions as a near-total barrier to American agricultural exports. Canada’s effective tariff rate on U.S. imports before the latest escalation stood at about 2.4%, less than half the 5% the United States imposed on Canada, according to ctvnews.ca.
On defense, Hanson said Canada has failed to meet NATO’s 2% of GDP spending commitment for nine consecutive years and has depended on the U.S. military, NORAD, and American missile defense systems for its security. Canada operates approximately 79 combat aircraft compared to roughly 5,000 for the United States, he said in the video. Hanson also warned that a new Canadian trade relationship with China — involving 48,000 electric vehicles imported at a 6% tariff rate — risks permanently damaging the Canada-U.S. relationship and endangering the NATO alliance, according to dailysignal.
The U.S.-Canada trade relationship has seen friction before. Canada’s supply-management system for dairy, which uses tariff-rate quotas and over-quota tariffs approaching 300% on some products such as butter, was a central point of contention during negotiations over the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which Trump signed with the leaders of Canada and Mexico in late 2018 and which took effect on July 1, 2020, according to ctvnews.ca. The current standoff represents a sharper rupture than those earlier disputes, with both sides now imposing broad retaliatory tariffs across multiple sectors rather than negotiating within that agreement’s framework.
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