Trump Is About to Be Pissed at Tulsi Gabbard’s Canada Admission
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard absolutely—and accidentally—shredded Donald Trump’s phony reason for placing steep tariffs on Canada.
During a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing Tuesday, Gabbard presented the Annual Threat Assessment, or ATA, about the dangers state and non-state actors pose to the U.S. In her opening statement, Gabbard emphasized the presence of foreign cartels and illicit drug trafficking as the most dire threat to national security—but notably didn’t mention Canada at all.
Canada’s absence in the report presents a stark contradiction to the Trump administration’s insistence that drug trafficking across the Northern border presents a major threat to Americans. Trump has cited this excuse as part of his rationale for levying 25 percent tariffs on Canadian exports.
Senator Martin Heinrich asked Gabbard to explain why she hadn’t mentioned Canada in her report.
“Is the [Intelligence Community] wrong in its omission of Canada as a source of illicit fentanyl in the ATA? I was surprised, given some of the rhetoric, that there is no mention of Canada in the ATA,” the New Mexico Democrat pressed.
“Senator, the focus in my opening and the ATA was really to focus on the most extreme threats in that area. And our assessment is that the most extreme threat related to fentanyl continues to come from and through Mexico,” Gabbard replied.
“So, the president has stated that the fentanyl coming through Canada is massive, and actually said it was an “unusual and extraordinary threat” and that was the language that was used to justify putting tariffs on Canada,” Heinrich said. “I’m just trying to reconcile those two issues. Is it an “unusual and extraordinary threat” or is it a minor threat that doesn’t even merit mention in the Annual Threat Assessment?”
Gabbard said she couldn’t speak to the “specifics” of the threat posed by Canadian fentanyl trafficking.
Heinrich assured her that it accounted for “less than one percent” of the fentanyl seized by the U.S. government. “But if you have different information I would very much welcome that,” he said.
The Trump administration has repeatedly referred to a terrifying 2000 percent increase in drug trafficking over the U.S.-Canada border in the last year. But the reality is much less thrilling.
In 2023, only two pounds of fentanyl were seized at the Northern border, and a total of 43 pounds of fentanyl were seized in 2024, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. As one NBC News reporter pointed out, that’s still “less than a carry-on suitcase.”