White House trade adviser Peter Navarro scolded Newsmax host John Glasgow for suggesting President Donald Trump had started a trade war by imposing new 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada.
During a Sunday interview, Glasgow pointed out that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had vowed to retaliate against Trump's tariffs.
"We've had half a million Americans die from fentanyl and other synthetic opioids that come across your border, come across the Mexican border, and start as the fruit of the poisonous tree in China," Navarro insisted. "President Trump promised to stop this carnage, and he's going to do it."
"Next week, the Super Bowl, about 75,000 people will be sitting in the Super Bowl," the White House adviser continued. "That's almost exactly the number of Americans that die every year."
"If they want to retaliate, have at it. The boss is ready for that."
Glasgow pushed back: "But my question is, does a bigger trade — call it a war — does that help or hurt the American people?"
"Don't call it a war!" Navarro snapped. "This is not a trade war. That's the rhetoric of the globalists who want to send our jobs offshore and our factories offshore."
The Newsmax host, however, noted that "just 1%" of the fentanyl imported into the U.S. comes across the Canadian border.
"My point is, they're saying that maybe more could be done on the streets of the United States," Glasgow said. "That's the argument from both Mexico and Canada, that more should be done within the U.S. itself, rather than punishing Canada and Mexico with tariffs and hurting their economies."
"So you take a cup of fentanyl, a cup alone of fentanyl can kill millions of people," Navarro claimed, even though the DEA states that "one kilogram of fentanyl has the potential to kill 500,000 people."
"So don't tell me small amounts are coming over," he added. "Enough came over last year to kill 10 million Americans, Mr. Trudeau, from Canada."
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"They need to stop the Mexican cartels from setting up shop in Ontario or Quebec or wherever it is they choose to do that. They need to take responsibility for this."
Navarro did not say if Canada had a right to impose sanctions for the illegal guns pouring into the country through the U.S. border.
"According to Criminal Intelligence Service Canada, of guns traced last year that were involved in crimes in Ontario, Canada's most populated province, 73% originated from the United States, with no state having more hits than Texas," CBS reported in 2023.
The increase in imported illegal U.S. guns came as mass shootings spiked 869% in Canada.
Watch the video below from Newsmax.
