Tulsi Gabbard is sure to anger Trump with major admission about Canadas fentanyl trafficking
Tulsi Gabbard on Tuesday struggled to explain why Canada was left off a list of countries that pose a major drug threat to the United States.
Tulsi Gabbard on Tuesday struggled to explain why Canada was left off a list of countries that pose a major drug threat to the United States.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly blasted Canada as a national security threat for the amount of fentanyl that comes over its border, which he used as one of reasons he sparked a tariff war with Ottawa.
Gabbard, Trumps director of national intelligence, was testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee on the Annual Threat Assessment (ATA) when she was asked about the omission of Canada from that portion of the threat list.
The focus in my opening and the ATA was really to focus on the most extreme threats in that area. And our assessment is that the most extreme threat related to fentanyl continues to come from and through Mexico, she said.
Democratic Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico said he was surprised by the omission of Canada given some of the rhetoric from officials in the Trump administration.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard speaks during a Senate Intelligence Committee
President Trump has slammed Americas neighbor to the north as being a source of the illicit drug.
The fentanyl coming through Canada is massive, he said in January.
He slapped a 25% tariff on Canadian aluminum and steel earlier this month, which he said he would remove when Canada slowed down the fentanyl traffic that comes over the United States northern border.
In his address to Congress in early March, Trump claimed that Canada and Mexico have allowed fentanyl to come into our country at levels never seen before, killing hundreds of thousands of our citizens and many very young, beautiful people, destroying families. Nobodys ever seen anything like it.
But the numbers dont match his claim.
In fiscal 2024, 43 pounds of fentanyl were seized at the northern border, according to Customs and Border Protection data.
More than 21,000 pounds were seized at the southern border during the same time period.
Asked about data showing Canada isnt a significant player in the U.S. addiction crisis, Trump argued that drugs are coming across the northern border without being detected.
They should be apprehending much more, cause a lot comes through Canada and as Mexico gets stronger in terms of the border it comes through Canada, Trump said, without offering evidence to back his claim.
But Canada is fighting back.
Then-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called Trumps tariff war on his country unjustified, noting that fentanyl seizures at the U.S. northern border have dropped to near-zero.
While less than 1 percent of the fentanyl intercepted at the U.S. border comes from Canada, we have worked relentlessly to address this scourge, Trudeau said.
He pointed to $1.3 billion Canada is spending on new security measures along the border.
President Donald Trump has claimed the Canada border is a huge danger because of fentanyl being smuggled in via the northern route
Sen. Martin Heinrich asked why Canada was left off a list of countries labeled a drug threat
Many in Canada think Trumps war on the north was part of his effort to make Canada the 51st state.
The president seems obsessed with adding Canada to the United States.
Canada only works as a state, Trump said last week. We dont need anything they have. As a state, it would be one of the great states anywhere. This would be the most incredible country, visually.
If you look at a map, they drew an artificial line right through it, between Canada and the U.S. Just a straight, artificial line. Somebody did it a long time ago, many many decades ago. Makes no sense. Its so perfect as a great and cherished state, he added.
Canada is one of the U.S.s largest trading partners, with nearly 80% of Canadian exports marked for the U.S.
New Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said there are dark days ahead and blamed the U.S for the rift.
These are dark days — dark days brought on by a country we can no longer trust, he said.