Skip to Content Subscribe Our Offers My Account Manage My Subscriptions FAQ Newsletters Canada Canadian True Crime Canadian Politics Health World Israel & Middle East Financial Post NP Comment Longreads Puzzmo Diversions Comics NP News Quiz New York Times Crossword Horoscopes Life Eating & Drinking Style Sponsored Play for Ontario Travel Travel Canada Travel USA Travel International Cruises Travel Essentials Culture Books Celebrity Movies Music Theatre Television Business Essentials Advice Lives Told Tails Told Shopping Buy Canadian Home Living Outdoor Living Kitchen & Dining Tech Style & Beauty Personal Care Entertainment & Hobbies Gift Guide Travel Guide Amazon Prime Day Deals Savings National Post Store More Sports Hockey Baseball Basketball Football Soccer Golf Tennis Driving Vehicle Research Reviews News Gear Guide Obituaries Place an Obituary Place an In Memoriam Classifieds Place an Ad Celebrations Working Business Ads Archives Healthing Epaper Manage Print Subscription Profile Settings My Subscriptions Saved Articles My Offers Newsletters Customer Service FAQ Newsletters Canada World Financial Post NP Comment Longreads Puzzmo Diversions Life Shopping Epaper Manage Print Subscription HomeNewsCanadaFreeland calls Trump 'bully in chief' in scathing rebuke: 'Canada must fight back'The former deputy prime minister and the current American president have clashed in the past, with Trump calling her 'a whack'Last updated 0 minutes ago You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.From left, Robert Lighthizer, U.S. trade representative, U.S. president Donald Trump, Chrystia Freeland, minister of foreign affairs, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the G-20 Leaders' Summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Nov. 30, 2018. Photo by Sarah Pabst /BloombergReferencing everything from South Park to Leonard Cohen poems, Chrystia Freeland has taken shots at Donald Trump in the pages of the New York Times this week. She even doles out the “b” word — bully — twice.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorA former MP and deputy prime minister under Justin Trudeau, Freeland resigned her seat in Parliament in January, and this month took up a position as warden of Rhodes House and chief executive officer of the Rhodes Trust, a British educational charity that supports global graduate students at the University of Oxford. But she has not fully left the political realm, writing regularly on “the intersection of economics and geopolitics” in Bloomberg News and appearing as a panelist on Wall Street Week.Her latest piece appeared Tuesday as a guest essay in the oped pages of the New York Times, under the title “You Aren’t Going to Like What Comes After America.” The words, which also close her essay, are from a poem by Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, written in 2003 and most recently published posthumously in 2018.Get a dash of perspective along with the trending news of the day in a very readable format.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of NP Posted will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againIn the essay, Freeland takes aim at Trump’s “Blame Canada” tactics, a reference to a song in the 1999 South Park movie (spun off from the TV show) in which the mother of one of the characters rallies other parents against Canada for producing a raunchy film that she claims has corrupted their children.Freeland noted that the plot point is meant to be satirical humour and decried its move into the real world, saying it was “meant to underscore the pathetic human tendency to point fingers at someone — anyone — else for our own failings.” Chrystia Freeland delivers remarks during an event at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, DC. Photo by KEVIN DIETSCH /GETTY IMAGESShe says Trump’s latest tariffs against Canadian goods — a list that includes wine, hockey sticks and cement — are under the pretext of unfair Canadian treatment of U.S. alcohol, dairy and automobiles.“That’s just the most recent rationale,” she adds. “Earlier in July, Canada’s cited crime was being ravaged by the dangerous fires in our own boreal forest. Before that, Canada was considered a national security threat, and therefore subject to tariffs on our steel, aluminum, car parts and cars.”Freeland goes on to claim that “the economics of Mr. Trump’s tariff attacks on Canada are not really the point,” and concludes: “Trump’s tariff offensive has a clear purpose: to demonstrate who is dominant and who must submit.” She adds: “Canada must fight back. The only thing a bully understands is strength.”Near the end of the piece she refers to Trump as “the current bully in chief.”Freeland’s salvo is just the latest in a series of exchanges between her and Trump that go back to at least 2018.That September, Trump said he had snubbed a request from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for a one-on-one meeting because, among other reasons, he didn’t like Canada’s negotiation tactics and “we don’t like their representative very much.” Freeland was Canada’s top trade representative at the time.Later, when Freeland resigned as finance minister in 2024, Trump posted that her “behavior was totally toxic, and not at all conducive to making deals which are good for the very unhappy citizens of Canada,” adding: “She will not be missed!!!”The next year, with Freeland vying for leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada, Trump called her “a whack” and claimed credit for her resignation as finance minister.“Governor Trudeau understood that,” he told Britain’s Spectator magazine in an interview, using his nickname for the prime minister. “And he actually fired her because of a meeting he had with me. I said, ‘She is so bad. She’s bad for the country.'”There’s a reason Trump called me a “whack.” There’s a reason he complained about my negotiating skills. There’s a reason Putin kicked me out of Russia, too. I don’t back down—and Trump and Putin know it.I’m ready to fight for Canada—and win.— Chrystia Freeland (@cafreeland) February 28, 2025Freeland shot back on social media, saying that his insults were because “I don’t back down … I’m ready to fight for Canada—and win.”Freeland is also at work on a book about her time in politics, titled “Unreliable Boyfriend: An Insider’s View of Dealing with a Chaotic Superpower, Plutocrats, and Other Complicated People.” It is scheduled for release on Oct. 13 by Simon & Schuster Canada.The book is described by the publisher as “part memoir, part polemic,” and “a powerful investigation of leadership, ambition, compromise, and betrayal, from a public intellectual with a clear view into the dangers, and opportunities, of our unreliable relationship with the United States.”The title is a reference to a comment she made on Real Time With Bill Maher in February, saying that the U.S. is “not a very reliable boyfriend right now.”Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our newsletters here. Join the Conversation This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.