Canadians are ‘perplexed’ by Trump’s tariffs, ambassador to the US says
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(WASHINGTON) — In an interview on ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday, Canadian Ambassador to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman said Canadians are “perplexed” and “disappointed” by President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
White House officials announced Saturday that Trump has imposed 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada and 10% tariffs on goods from China. Trump had long threatened tariffs against Canada and Mexico to ensure their cooperation to stop illegal immigration and the flow of fentanyl into the U.S.
The tariffs are expected to be implemented on Tuesday but Hillman said her government is continuing to discuss the situation with the Trump administration.
“We’re hopeful that they don’t come into effect on Tuesday,” she said. “We’re ready to continue to talk to the Trump administration about that, and in particular about all the work that we’re doing with them and on our own, with respect to the border.”
Hillman said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Trump discussed Canada’s plan to meet some of his demands, although not recently, and discussions between the two governments are continuing.
“Not in recent days, but they have discussed it, and we’ve discussed it with senior members of the White House as well, and we’ve laid out our plan, and my understanding is that the plan and some of the actual outcomes, results of what we have done, have been presented to the president,” she said.
Trudeau responded to the tariffs on Saturday evening, announcing his country will implement 25% tariffs on $155 billion Canadian dollars (about $107 billion U.S. dollars) of U.S. goods. The prime minister said he has not talked to Trump since his inauguration.
Hillman said the proposed tariff’s are “disrupting an incredibly successful trading relationship.”
“The Canadian people are going to expect that our government stands firm and stands up for itself,” she said. “I don’t think we’re not at all interested in escalating, but I think that there will be a very strong demand on our government to make sure that we stand up for the deal that we have struck with the with the United States.”
“They just don’t understand where this is coming from, and probably there’s a little bit of hurt,” she added.
The U.S. and Canada have always had a “sense of common purpose,” Hillman said, and Trump’s actions constitute a significant heel turn.
“This is not something that Canada wants to do,” she said. “This is not a path that we are interested in going down. We are actually interested in being and continuing to be your best customer.”
(WASHINGTON) — As President Donald Trump makes a very public effort to acquire Greenland, one former Danish official said Trump’s attempts are nothing new — but he shouldn’t expect it to be easy. Interest in buying Greenland has “popped up from time to time in American politics,” Tom Høyem, Denmark’s minister to Greenland from 1982 to 1987, told ABC News in an interview.
Høyem, 83, discussed Greenland’s political importance over the years, as well as his reaction to Trump’s recent desire to buy the island territory.
“Trump is living in a narrative where this has been an issue for the last 150 years,” Høyem said.
The purchase of Greenland has been a topic of conversation since before World War II, when Denmark sold the Danish West Indies — now known as the U.S. Virgin Islands — to the United States in 1917 for $25 million, Høyem said. Many American policymakers argued the U.S. should also acquire Greenland as well, according to Høyem.
“[President] Woodrow Wilson at first said, ‘No, it’s not worth anything at all. It’s just ice. I don’t want it.’ But there was such a big debate in the U.S. that he was forced to do something,” Høyem said.
When Wilson asked for ownership of Greenland, the Danish minister at the time replied, “No,” according to Høyem. Wilson signed an agreement in 1917 stating the United States recognizes Greenland as Danish, Høyem said.
In the document discussing the transfer of the Danish West Indies, then-Secretary of State Robert Lansing wrote, “In preceding this day to the signature of the Convention respecting the cessation of the Danish West-Indian Island to the United States of America, the undersigned Secretary of State of the United States of America, duly authorized by his Government, has the honor to declare that the Government of the United States of America will not object to the Danish Government extending their political and economic interests to the whole of Greenland.”
If Denmark was to ever sell Greenland to any country, Høyem said the United Kingdom would receive the first right to buy it, since the U.K. held dominion over Canada at the time of the treaty.
“Canada is only 20 kilometers away. That’s why the British said, ‘If Denmark ever sells Greenland, we should be the first to decide whether to take it or not,'” Høyem told ABC News.
Now, with Trump saying he wants to purchase Greenland, Høyem said history is repeating itself.
“Trump grew up hearing these stories,” Høyem said. “His generation and his parents’ generation often heard about U.S. attempts to buy Greenland.”
Trump has repeatedly expressed his interest in acquiring the island territory, beginning during his first administration when he tried to buy Greenland, but instead gave $12 million for economic development. Trump has since restated his interest in buying the territory shortly before his second inauguration.
“For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity,” Trump said in a December 2024 statement.
Trump said the purchase was needed for security purposes, adding he is “protecting the free world.” The U.S. also operates Putiffik Space Base, the Defense Department’s northern-most base, which sits on the coast of Greenland.
“You have approximately 45,000 people there. People really don’t even know if Denmark has any legal right to it,” Trump said, without explanation, during a Jan. 7 press conference at Mar-a-Lago. “But if they do, they should give it up because we need it for national security. That’s for the free world.”
Greenland is also rich in valuable minerals, including rare earth metals, precious metals, precious stones, and uranium, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Association. While that may sound appealing to a potential buyer, Høyem said mining there is extremely expensive.
Trump’s son, Donald Trump, Jr., visited Greenland on Jan. 7, but stated the visit was for personal reasons. During this trip, his father said on social media, “Don. Jr. and my Reps landing in Greenland. The reception has been great. They, and the Free World, need safety, security, strength and PEACE! This is a deal that must happen.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio also reiterated an interest in the U.S. securing Greenland during his Senate confirmation hearings.
“Putting aside all the things that are going on in the media, I think we need to understand that Greenland’s been strategically important to the United States and to the West for a very long time,” Rubio said. “I think we now have the opportunity to see it for what it is, and that is one, if not the most important, one of the most critical parts of the world over the next 50 to 100 years will be whether there’s going to be freedom of navigation in the Arctic and what that will mean for global trade and commerce.”
Høyem said he does not know Trump, but thinks “he needs to be briefed a bit more by his civil servants.”
“His new minister of foreign affairs spoke to the Danish foreign minister — my party leader and friend — and they both agreed: ‘Let’s not discuss Greenland for now,'” Høyem said.
The prime minister of Greenland, Múte Egsede, has rejected the idea of selling Greenland to Trump, saying, “Greenland is ours.”
“We are not for sale and will never be for sale,” Egsede said in a statement. “We must not lose our long struggle for freedom.”
Officials from Denmark also have not supported Trump’s Greenmark proposal, including Danish politician Anders Vistisen, who explicitly urged the newly elected president to “f— off.”
“Greenland has been part of the Danish kingdom for 800 years,” Vistisen said during a European Parliament meeting on Jan. 21 in Strasbourg, France. “It’s an integrated part of our country. It is not for sale.”
Høyem said if Greenland decided to become independent, “they would immediately be targeted by major global powers.” Until then, Høyem said the territory needs more U.S. military investment to help defend it.
“I personally can’t imagine Greenland becoming fully independent,” Høyem said. “Running a country that large with so few people is nearly impossible.”
Regardless of the future of Trump’s Greenland proposal, Høyem said the land holds significant power.
“Trump might have looked at Greenland as a real estate deal, but for Denmark and Greenland, it’s a matter of geopolitical survival,” Høyem said. “The Arctic is extremely important, and I agree with Trump on that.”
(TEL AVIV) — Israeli police are responding to a suspected terror attack on buses near Tel Aviv, the Israeli Police Spokesperson’s Unit said in a statement Thursday evening.
The two buses where bombs exploded were empty and in separate parking lots about 500 meters apart from each other, the mayor of Bat Yam, where the incident occurred, said. Bat Yam is on Israel’s southern coast and is just south of Tel Aviv.
There are no injuries from the explosions, police said.
“Multiple reports have been received of explosions involving several buses at different locations in Bat Yam. Large police forces are at the scenes, searching for suspects. Police bomb disposal units are scanning for additional suspicious objects,” the Israeli Police Spokesperson’s Unit said.
Police urged the public to avoid the areas and remain alert for any suspicious items.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
(SEOUL) — A team of U.S. investigators arrived in South Korea to assist local aviation officials as they comb the wreckage of the Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 aircraft that crashed Sunday, killing 179 people.
Three members of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board are leading the U.S. team, which also includes advisers from the Federal Aviation Administration, Boeing and CFM International, a jet-engine manufacturer. Some of those advisers will be on site and others will remain in the U.S., the NTSB said.
“Additional NTSB investigative staff are standing by to assist if needed, including specialists in recorders, powerplants, and survival factors, among other specialties,” the board said in a statement.
In the wake of the deadly plane crash at Muan International Airport, local officials are also now investigating similar aircraft models that are operating in airports around the country.
Jeju Air Flight 2216 was landing just before 9 a.m. when the plane went off the runway and crashed into a wall. There were a total of 175 passengers and six crew members aboard the Boeing 737, which had taken off from Bangkok, Thailand.
A total of 179 people aboard the flight were killed, with two flight attendants — a man and a woman — being the only survivors of the crash.
Officials were continuing to identify the victims of the crash. Five of the remains were still unidentified as of Tuesday, local officials said. The remains of four individuals being transported to their respective families for funeral.
Authorities are conducting a full investigation into over 100 aircraft that are the same model, B737-800. The planes are currently operating in six local airlines, officials said.
The investigation includes reviewing the maintenance history of the engines, landing gears and the aircraft’s operation records.
“There are no plans to suspend operations, but they will examine those parts once more and check them thoroughly during the inspection process,” said Song Kyung-hoon, head of Jeju Air’s Management Support Division.
The Muan International Airport runway will be closed for the investigation until Jan. 7, officials said.
The two flight attendants who survived the crash were recovering at separate hospitals in Seoul on Monday, according to the Korean Ministry of Land Infrastructure and Transport.
Neither survivor had life-threatening injuries, the ministry said, adding that both had awoken in the hospital without a clear recollection of what had happened after they heard a blast during the landing.
The man, who was identified only by his surname Lee, was receiving treatment for fractures in an intensive care unit. He was alert and speaking with medical staff, Ju Woong, director of the Ewha Womans University Seoul Hospital, said at a press conference on Monday.
“[Lee is] fully able to communicate,” Woong added. “There’s no indication yet of memory loss or such.”
The woman, a 25-year-old flight attendant named Koo, was also recovering, though not in intensive care, according to hospital staff and officials, as well as the Korean Ministry of Land Infrastructure and Transport.
ABC News’ Sam Sweeney and Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.
