Trump denies US pushed Canada on French language

On Tuesday morning, President Donald Trump denied that the White House had sought to interfere with the French language spoken in Quebec. This came after a trade war trade-off between the two countries. The president had celebrated a "DEAL" last week, following months of negotiations to avoid American tariffs. However, on Friday, the talks collapsed as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney pledged to match U.S. levies "dollar for dollar."

Carney expressed concern over "threats to the French language" and "the Quebec culture" in statements released on Saturday. Carney stated these issues were "unacceptable" and signaled the end of the negotiations. However, Trump refuted these allegations on Truth Social, asserting he would never interfere with Canadians speaking French. "In fact, I have never even thought of doing such a stupid thing," Trump posted.

White House officials claimed that Carney was exaggerating the French language issue, especially with elections in Quebec scheduled for October. Trump's trade representative, Jamieson Greer, dismissed the accusations as "a funny, fake story" during a CNBC interview on Monday. Greer said the conflict is over a rule that forces American tech companies to share a percentage of their earnings with competitors in Canada.

Trump wrote in a statement that this allegation was fabricated by a "weak and ineffective Prime Minister" to gain political support from Quebec's people, which he claimed had lost his support. Trump has previously criticized Canada's national identity, including his "51st state" remark. The White House had mocked its northern neighbor after Team USA defeated Canada in the final games of the Olympics this February in Milan.