\u201cThis is Willful Negligence, and becoming a yearly occurrence, costing the United States Billions of Dollars, which cost of this pollution must of necessity be added to the TARIFFS Canada is currently paying.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Donald Trump Truth Social Canada wildfires U.S. President Donald Trump shares a post on Truth Social criticizing Canada for its handling of the wildfires on July 17, 2026. DONALD TRUMP\/Truth Social <\/p>\n
Trump is the latest U.S. politician to criticize Canada for its handling of the wildfires. Earlier this week, a handful of Michigan state representatives claimed Canada has not done enough to address the smoke, which has led to deteriorating air conditions in northern U.S. states. <\/p>\n
Republican representatives John James, Jack Bergman, Lisa McClain and John Moolenaar penned a letter<\/a> Thursday titled \u201cCanada\u2019s Apologies Won\u2019t Clear Michigan\u2019s Skies.\u201d<\/p>\n They accused Canada of not acting with \u201curgency\u201d to address wildfire smoke in recent years, and claimed \u201cnothing has changed except that our patience has run out.\u201d<\/p>\n James, a Trump-endorsed candidate for governor of Michigan, took to social media Thursday to issue a \u201cfinal warning to Canada<\/a>\u201d to better manage the fires, adding \u201cAmerican lungs\u201d are paying for Canadian \u201cinaction.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSovereignty comes with responsibility, and the responsibility to prevent a foreseeable disaster from crossing into another country\u2019s airspace has not been met,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n Detroit topped the IQAir global index for poorest air quality in the world on both Thursday and Friday. Toronto held that rank on Wednesday<\/a>. <\/p>\n The president\u2019s wildfire comments drew reaction from both sides of the Canada-U.S. border. <\/p>\n Ohio Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno took a shot at Prime Minister Mark Carney on X, writing that Canada\u2019s wildfire management was proof \u201cyou don\u2019t have to be very smart to get elected as a liberal, you just have to be woke<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n In another post<\/a>, Moreno claimed that taking every automobile in America off the road for a year would equal the pollution spreading to the U.S. in a few weeks. He didn\u2019t cite statistics or a source.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are being systematically gassed by inept Canadian politicians,\u201d Moreno wrote, adding a check mark to \u201chigher tariffs,\u201d \u201csanctions\u201d and \u201cvictims fund,\u201d seemingly referring to hypothetical measures against Canada.<\/p>\n Meghan McCain, daughter of the late Arizona Sen. John McCain and a prominent conservative commentator, agreed with them.<\/p>\n \u201cYESSS! Thank you President Trump!!! Our children can\u2019t go outside and we\u2019re all ensconced in lethal levels of smoke because of Canada\u2019s failed policies,\u201d she wrote on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n Dimitris Soudas, who served as director of communications for former prime minister Stephen Harper, defended Canada in a lengthy post on X. <\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe reality is that Canada\u2019s forests cover nearly 350 million hectares, roughly nine per cent of the world\u2019s forests, much of it remote wilderness where fire has been a natural part of the ecosystem for thousands of years,\u201d Soudas wrote. \u201cNo country on Earth has the capacity to remove every tree, every branch, or every piece of combustible material across landscapes of that scale.\u201d<\/p>\n He urged the U.S. to work together with Canada to tackle the challenge of wildfires.<\/p>\n \u201cClimate conditions, prolonged drought, lightning strikes, insect infestations, and extreme weather have all contributed to longer and more severe wildfire seasons across North America,\u201d Soudas wrote. \u201cThis is a shared continental challenge, not a uniquely Canadian one.<\/p>\n Perry Johnson, a businessman running to be governor of Michigan, praised Trump for \u201cholding Canada responsible\u201d for what the U.S. president said was the country\u2019s improper management of forests resulting in the polluted air.<\/p>\n \u201cThank you President Trump for stepping in where Michigan leaders have failed. We must hold Canada accountable for this crisis and make sure it doesn\u2019t happen again!\u201d he wrote on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n Resources stretched as 189 wildfires rage across Ontario Nearly 900 wildfires burn across Canada, with smoke spreading across much of North America, as Northern Ontario faces evacuations. Heather Wright reports. <\/p>\n More than 900 wildfires active in Canada<\/p>\n Meanwhile, several Ontario communities have been evacuated<\/a> as wildfires tear through the region, dealing yet-untold damage. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s terrible,\u201d said Diane Laybourne, who fled to Thunder Bay, Ont., after an evacuation order in her home community of Armstrong. \u201cHaving to go out in it, you just want to get in some place where the air is clean.<\/p>\n There were 43 new active wildfires reported on Friday \u2014 15 of those being human-caused, 18 natural and 10 undetermined \u2014 bringing the total to 903 across Canada, an increase from the 858 reported Thursday, according to the national wildfire summary<\/a>.<\/p>\n Of those 903, 122 are burning out of control, 29 are being held and 73 are under control. <\/p>\n Ford says U.S. officials \u2018chirping away\u2019 about Ontario wildfires should help instead Ontario Premier Doug Ford tells U.S. officials \u2018to send support\u2019 instead of \u2018chirping away\u2019 about the wildfire smoke flooding into their states. <\/p>\n Instead of \u2018chirping,\u2019 send help: Ford<\/p>\n Ontario Premier Doug Ford was asked Friday about the growing number of American criticisms on wildfire management. In response, he alluded to Canada\u2019s contributions to fighting U.S. fires in recent years, including those that ripped through California last year<\/a>, and assistance during the Georgia hurricane in 2024<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIf there are some politicians out there chirping away, well, maybe what you should do rather than complain is send support, send help, because we have done the exact same thing for our American friends, and that\u2019s what you\u2019re supposed to do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/F5OQJTX6KRC7VG7E5YQDEB2SDI.jpeg\")
Sky in Collins Ontario\u2019s Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services says the fire that impacted Collins was more than 350,000 hectares large on Thursday (Heather Wright\/CTV News) Response to Trump\u2019s comments<\/p>\n