‘They should pay us’: Trump threatens Canadian PM to impose tariffs on ‘toxic air’ affecting US cities

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday he had spoken with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney about wildfire smoke drifting into the United States, urging Canada to take stronger action to contain the blazes and warning that tariffs could be imposed if the problem persists.“I tell them. I mean, you have to stop these fires from spreading, you know it’s going to poison our air. Our air is already poisoned,” Trump told reporters.“Good relationship with Mark Carney, but you know we have to stop the fires out there. If we can help them, we will help them. But maybe they should pay us some damages or something or we should impose some tariffs,” he added.Trump’s comments came just days after he threatened to impose additional tariffs on Canada, accusing Ottawa of failing to manage its forests and allowing wildfire smoke to cover parts of the United States with what he called “dirty, polluted and unhealthy air.”In an article published in Truth Social on Friday, Trump said Canada was responsible for worsening air quality in several U.S. cities.“We hold Canada accountable for their failure to properly maintain their forests and bushland, while the United States is being needlessly invaded by dirty, polluted and unhealthy air of dangerous and completely unacceptable quality!” he wrote.He further accused Canada of “willful negligence” in forest management and debris removal, claiming that recurring wildfire smoke has caused billions of dollars in damage to the United States. “The cost of this pollution must be added to the tariffs that Canada currently pays,” Trump said.His comments came as smoke from hundreds of wildfires in Canada crossed the border, triggering air quality alerts in several U.S. states. The Canadian Inter-Agency Forest Fire Center said there were 888 wildfires burning across the country on Friday, with the majority classified as out-of-control fires.More than 190 of those fires occurred in Ontario. Wildfire smoke has affected air quality in parts of the United States, including Minnesota, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York. Detroit had the worst air quality in the world on Friday, followed by Chicago, Washington, D.C. and New York, according to IQAir.Earlier, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada and the United States had a shared responsibility for fighting climate change, while Ontario Premier Doug Ford urged Washington to provide additional firefighting aid rather than criticizing Canada’s response.