Trump says Poilievre’s biggest problem is that he’s ‘not a MAGA guy’

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OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s biggest problem is that he’s “not a MAGA guy,” according to U.S. President Donald Trump.

Trump told British news magazine The Spectator that he wasn’t pleased with Poilievre’s recent jabs in a wide-ranging interview published on Friday.

“I don’t like what he’s saying about me. It’s just not positive about me,” Trump said to interviewer Ben Domenech.

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Trump warned that Poilievre was making a “big mistake” by ratcheting up the tough talk and was likely to join a long list of leaders who’ve tried and failed to outmuscle him.

“They think they’re going to be the tough guy and they’re going to knock out Trump, and they end up getting the hell beat out of ’em,” said Trump.

“They all make that mistake.”

Poilievre has had to walk a fine line on Trump with polls showing the Republican president is popular with a segment of the Conservative base.

The Conservative leader didn’t immediately respond to Trump’s comments, but Conservative MP Michael Barrett was quick to shrug them off.

“We’re laser focused on what’s best for Canadians, we’re not worried about comments of people in other countries,” Barrett told reporters at a media scrum in Ottawa.

Poilievre has shifted to a more combative tone in recent weeks as part of a “Canada First” rebrand, partly in response to Trump’s tariff and annexation threats, which have spurred a rebound in the governing Liberals’ polling numbers.

Poilievre unleashed his strongest words yet against Trump at a recent rally in Ottawa, warning him not to confuse Canada’s “kindness for weakness.”

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“Let me be clear: we will never be the 51st state. We will bear any burden and pay any price to protect the sovereignty and independence of our country.”
He still has a ways to go to sell Canadians on his steely new persona, with polls indicating they’d prefer likely Liberal leadership race winner Mark Carney to manage bilateral relations with Trump.

Poilievre wasn’t the only Canadian political figure that Trump mentioned in the interview.

He also took aim at ex-finance minister and Liberal leadership contender Chrystia Freeland, calling her “a whack.”

Trump told Domenech that it was him who convinced Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to boot Freeland from the finance portfolio in December.

“I said, ‘she is so bad. She’s bad for the country,”” Trump said of his alleged talk with Trudeau.

Freeland, who recently suggested that Canada form a new security alliance to hedge against U.S. aggression, was quick to hit back at Trump.

“There’s a reason Trump called me a ‘whack’,” Freeland said on X. “There’s a reason he complained about my negotiating skills.”

“I don’t back down.”

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Trump was in the United Kingdom this week for an official state visit, meeting with both Prime Minister Keir Starmer and King Charles III.

National Post
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