Anti-Canadian rhetoric by U.S. officials is being characterized by two political experts as “really weird, really bizarre” and “frat house humour.”
The latest example comes from U.S. Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, who posted to social media yesterday an image of a female cadet and instructor at a Canadian military training camp, seeming to mock the picture by commenting with a Canadian flag and the words: “(this is real).”
The original image was posted a week ago by the Instagram account of the Vernon cadet training facility in British Columbia, with the caption: “Congratulations and well done to all recipients who received awards on the final day of Vernon CTC 2026! This is recognition of the amazing effort you have all put in as course cadets and staff!”
Hegseth did not explain his comment but it was widely taken to be a poke at the instructor’s size, given his repeated use of the phrase “fit not fat” in relation to the desired state of the U.S. military.
Asked about recent remarks by the Trump administration on Tuesday, Prime Minister Mark Carney said: “It’s beneath their office.” He added: “When the Americans stop doing memes, stop throwing shade, stop trying to be tough and start being serious about having those discussions, we can have those discussions.”
Phil Triadafilopoulos, a professor of political science at the University of Toronto, called remarks by Hegseth and others “weird” and “novel,” adding they were also unchecked.
“In the second Trump administration, there’s been no real effort to restrain rhetoric, to not post really defamatory and tasteless videos, to go after opponents with the full power of the American state,” he said. “And to do all sorts of things that would have been hard to fathom not that long ago.”
In fact, he still finds them hard to fathom. “I don’t see other administrations in other advanced industrialized democracies doing similar things,” he said. “We expect elected officials, especially executives, premiers, presidents, prime ministers, to comport themselves differently, to hold to higher standards.”
“I wish I could say it was unbelievable,” said Ryan Hurl, assistant professor of political science at the U of T, of the recent attacks. “But I feel like we’re in the movie Idiocracy,” a reference to a 2005 comedy that imagines a distant future where people have spent centuries getting stupider.
Here are just a few other instances of recent rudeness by American officials.
‘Two submarines’
In a weekend appearance on CNBC, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent brushed off the suggestion that the U.S.-Canada trade dispute could be categorized as a war, while taunting Canada for its lack of naval power.
“We’re not at war with Canada,” he said. “How are we going to be at war with Canada? What, are they going to take their two submarines from the Edmonton mall and sic them on us?”
Canada did in fact have four submarines at West Edmonton Mall as part of its Deep Sea Adventure ride, which opened in 1985 and closed more than 20 years ago. They were dismantled in 2012. During operation of the ride, many Canadians joked that there were more subs in the mall than in the Canadian Forces.
‘Do I care about how the Quebecois speak?’
Last week, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick claimed that Canada had walked away from the trade deal over political rather than economic reasons, driven by fear over separatist movements in Quebec and Alberta. He was specifically pushing back on reports that Canada took issue with U.S. demands regarding the use of French language, and seemed to take a swing at Quebec .
“This is politics only.” he said. “If you think I ever said the words ‘French’ — do I care about how the Quebecois speak? I mean, what could matter less to America? We don’t care! So, the fact is we never brought those words up. This is manufactured and that’s why the president put out a truth saying it was a complete lie.”
‘Freudian slip’
Speaking at a manufacturing facility in Maine last month, U.S. Vice-President JD Vance referred to Canada as a state, echoing Donald Trump’s repeated references to the “51st state,” before claiming it was a Freudian slip.
“Canada and China have been the two worst countries when it comes to trade policy anywhere in the world,” he began, adding: “I would expect that from China. I would not expect that from Canada. We have to remember, Canada is a state — sorry, Freudian slip. That was actually an accident — Canada is a country.”
The remark drew laughter and scattered applause from the crowd. He continued: “Canada is a country that has underinvested in its military, that quite literally would get invaded by a foreign country were it not for the umbrella of protection provided by the United States of America.”
Eagle vs. goose
A social media post form the White House last week showed a bald eagle — long a symbol of America — in a fight with a Canadian goose. Although the eagle appears victorious, it was soon revealed that the picture came from a series shot by Canadian photographer Mervyn Sequeira a year and a half ago in Burlington, Ont. — and that the goose survived the attack while the eagle eventually flew off without a meal.
‘Flunkies,’ ‘Clowns’ and ‘The worst’
Donald Trump hasn’t minced words when it comes to Canada, referring to our officials and leaders as “nasty people,” and specifically to Ontario premier Doug Ford as “the less charismatic, intelligent, and overall unimpressive brother of the late, great, Rob Ford.” (Rob Ford, former mayor of Toronto, died of cancer in 2016.)
Trump has also called Ford the “Flunky” of “Governor” Mark Carney, and referred to Canada as “one of the worst abusers” in the world of trade.
“They’ve been ripping us off for decades, and it’s going to stop,” he posted to social media. “This should have happened long ago with other Presidents, just as stopping Iran should have happened long ago. They want to be treated like a State, but they aren’t one. I deal with the Leadership of many Countries, but I find Canada to be the worst.”
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