‘You’ll find out about it’: Trump hints at Canada’s wildfire smoke punishment
- U.S. President Donald Trump announced he has decided on a “punishment” for Canada due to wildfire smoke crossing the border, but has not revealed specific details about the measure.
- Trump has previously threatened additional tariffs on Canada, blaming the country for polluted air from Northern Ontario wildfires and calling it “willful negligence” that costs the U.S. billions.
- Ontario Premier Doug Ford dismissed the tariff threat, highlighting Canada’s history of assisting the U.S. with firefighting efforts and pointing out the economic ties between the countries, including lumber trade.
- As wildfires rage on in both countries, tensions have escalated with Trump imposing a new 50% tariff on some Canadian goods, while Canada has vowed not to retaliate until it takes effect, amid ongoing cross-border wildfire smoke issues.
U.S. President Donald Trump has said he’s decided on a “punishment” for Canada following wildfires that pushed smoke across the border and affected air quality in some areas of the United States. But he hasn’t revealed what it is.
While speaking to reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night, Trump was asked: “On Canada, have you decided on a punishment yet for the wildfire smoke?”
“I have, yeah,” he replied. “You’ll find out about it.”
Though the U.S. President did not elaborate on what this punishment could be, he has previously threatened to impose further tariffs on Canada in response to smoke from wildfires in Northern Ontario, which he called “unacceptable” in a July 17 Truth Social post.
“The United States is being unnecessarily invaded by filthy, polluted, and unhealthy air, the quality of which is dangerous, and totally unacceptable,” Trump wrote.
He added: “This 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.”
Reporter: On Canada, have you decided on a punishment yet for the wildfire smoke?
Trump: You’ll find out about it. pic.twitter.com/EU0a7mdR0v
— Acyn (@Acyn) August 2, 2026
While speaking to reporters at an air base in Maryland after attending the FIFA World Cup final on July 19, Trump said he had confronted Prime Minister Mark Carney at the event over the wildfires.
“I told him you’ve got to stop these fires from coming in and poisoning our air, our air’s been poisoned,” he said. “I have a good relationship with Mark Carney but, you know, we’ve got to stop the fires up there. If we can help them we’ll help them, but maybe they should pay us some damages or something, or we should do some tariffs?”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford later dismissed the notion of more tariffs as “rubbish” during a press conference the following day.
Premier Doug Ford said American politicians who have complained about Canadian “inaction” on wildfires should remember that Ontario has often sent resources to help deal with natural disasters south of the border.
“If there’s some politician out there chirping away, maybe what… pic.twitter.com/88dCltIhmN
— National Post (@nationalpost) July 20, 2026
“Maybe if (Trump) got rid of the tariffs on softwood lumber it might make a difference, until we can harvest these areas and ship them down,” said Ford. “I’ve got to remind President Trump that 33 per cent of the lumber — and we have better quality lumber here in Canada — comes from Canada to build their homes.”
The premier added: “Rather than criticize and threaten Canada, your closest friends, maybe one day you’re going to need our help like you did last year, and we deployed the people. I get frustrated just listening to this bunch of rubbish.”
Canada has sent firefighting crews to California numerous times over the years, most recently in January 2025.
Ford’s comments came the same day that Trump announced plans for a new 50 per cent tariff on Canadian goods, citing what the U.S. administration views as discriminatory trade practices by Canada, including Canadian tariffs on American autos, U.S. alcohol bans in some provinces and dairy import limits.
At a first ministers meeting in Charlottetown on July 23, Carney said Canada would not respond to the tariffs, which are set to come into force on Aug. 19, before they take effect.
Trump later trolled Canada with an AI-generated image depicting a giant air filter acting as a border wall between Canada and the U.S., which he shared on social media.
( @realDonaldTrump – Truth Social Post )( Donald J. Trump – Jul 25 2026, 11:16 AM ET ) pic.twitter.com/J0Y2yNgWTe
— Fan Donald J. Trump 🇺🇸 TRUTH POSTS (@TruthTrumpPosts) July 25, 2026
The image included a sign that read: “North American air filter barrier. Clean air. Clean borders.”
Meanwhile, there are 770 active wildfires across Canada as of Tuesday, according to the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System, with several evacuation orders and emergency alerts issued in British Columbia.
And the U.S. is currently dealing with wildfires of its own. There are 531 active wildfires across the U.S., according to American Forests, with fire activity concentrated across the northwest. Large fires near Spokane, Washington state, have forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate their homes.