US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney about wildfire smoke rising into the United States, urging them to take stronger action to contain the fires and warning that tariffs could be applied if the problem persists.Speaking to reporters, Trump said: “I told them. I mean, you’ve got to keep these fires out and you know you’re poisoning our air. Our air has been poisoned.”He added: “We have a good relationship with Mark Carney, but you know we have to stop the fires there. If we can help them, we will help them. But maybe they have to pay us some compensation or something, or we have to impose some tariffs.”Trump’s comments come days after he threatened to impose additional tariffs on Canada, and accused Ottawa of failing to manage its forests and allowing wildfire smoke to cover parts of the United States with what he described as “dirty, polluted, unhealthy air.”In a post on Truth Social on Friday, Trump said Canada is responsible for deteriorating air quality in several American cities.“We hold Canada responsible for the fact that it does not maintain its forests properly, does not clean up the trees in them, and that the United States is being unnecessarily invaded by dirty, polluted, unhealthy air, the quality of which is dangerous and completely unacceptable!” books.He also accused Canada of “willful negligence” in forest management and debris removal, claiming smoke from recurring wildfires has caused billions of dollars in damage to the United States.
Trump said: “The cost of this pollution must necessarily be added to the tariffs that Canada is currently paying.”His comments came as smoke from hundreds of active wildfires in Canada spread across the border, triggering air quality alerts in several US states. The Canadian Interagency Wildfire Center said 888 wildfires were burning across the country on Friday, most of which were classified as out of control.More than 190 of those fires were in Ontario. Wildfire smoke has affected air quality in parts of the United States, including Minnesota, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York.
According to the IQAir website, Detroit recorded the worst air quality in the world on Friday, followed by Chicago, Washington, D.C., and New York.Earlier, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada and the United States share responsibility for tackling climate change, while Ontario Premier Doug Ford urged Washington to provide additional help to fight the fires rather than criticize Canada’s response.
