U.S. President Donald Trump said he urged Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to take stronger action to control Ontario’s wildfires, arguing that smoke drifting into the United States has affected millions of Americans.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday after attending the FIFA World Cup final in New Jersey, Trump said he raised the issue directly with Carney during the match.
“I have a good relationship with Mark Carney, but we’ve got to stop the fires up there,” Trump said. He added that Canada should potentially compensate the U.S. for the impact of the wildfire smoke, suggesting, “Maybe they should pay us some damages or something, or we should do some tariffs.”
The comments came a day after Trump threatened additional tariffs on Canadian goods over the cross-border smoke caused by the ongoing wildfire season.
Smoke from hundreds of active wildfires in Ontario has spread across parts of the U.S. Midwest, Northeast and Mid-Atlantic since Thursday, prompting air quality alerts and public health warnings urging residents to limit time outdoors.
As of Sunday evening, Carney’s office had not publicly responded to Trump’s latest remarks.
On Saturday, Carney said Canada has deployed more than 5,300 firefighters and is using advanced technologies, including thermal imaging and real-time data, to improve wildfire detection and response efforts.
According to Canadian government data, approximately 5.9 million acres (2.4 million hectares) have burned across the country so far this wildfire season. Climate scientists have linked increasingly severe wildfire seasons to rising global temperatures, which contribute to more frequent and intense fire activity.
