WASHINGTON – U.S. President Donald Trump says he will decide Thursday night whether to include oil in his tariff plan as he confirmed his intention to impose devastating duties on Canadian imports on Saturday.
“Because they send us oil, we’ll see,” Trump told reporters while signing executive actions in the Oval Office Thursday afternoon.
“It depends on what the price is. If the oil is properly priced, if they treat us properly — which they don’t.”
Trump initially claimed his 25 per cent tariff threat was in response to what he called the failure by Canada and Mexico to curb the illegal flow of people and drugs across the border.
His complaints have since expanded far beyond border security. On Thursday, Trump repeated his objections to trade deficits with both countries.
The president said the tariffs “may or may not rise with time.”
Canadian officials are still hoping a final diplomatic push aimed at lawmakers in Washington and Trump’s team can sway the president.
Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc sent a video describing Canada’s border security efforts to Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary — part of Canada’s pitch to avoid the devastating duties.
LeBlanc’s office confirmed the three-minute video was texted to Lutnick Wednesday evening after the billionaire financier’s Senate confirmation hearing.
Lutnick told senators Wednesday that Trump’s threatened 25 per cent across-the-board duties would be an emergency measure to achieve border security — and could be followed by more tariffs in the future.
Lutnick said he believes Canada and Mexico are “acting swiftly” on border security and “and if they execute it, there will be no tariff and if they don’t, then there will be.”
LeBlanc met Lutnick at Mar-a-Lago late last year after he and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau travelled there for a dinner with Trump a few days after the president made his initial tariff threat.
LeBlanc’s office said the video was sent along with a “personal message” to add context on Canada’s work to shore up the border. The spokesperson said the message was not part of any official communication plan.
The minister will meet with Lutnick but not until after his nomination is confirmed.
LeBlanc’s outreach comes as Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is in Washington, D.C. connecting with American officials and lawmakers. On Thursday, she was set to meet Republican senators Pete Ricketts and Lisa Murkowski and Democrat senators Tim Kaine and Maria Cantwell.
Public Safety Minister David McGuinty and Immigration Minister Marc Miller were travelling to Washington Thursday for meetings with various senators and members of Trump’s team.
The three ministers could also meet with Trump’s border czar Tom Homan on Friday afternoon, but a meeting has not been finalized.
Trump didn’t implement the duties on his first day back in office, as he’d vowed to do, but later said they’d hit both countries on Feb. 1.
The illegal traffic of drugs and people over Canada’s border is miniscule compared to the traffic over the U.S.-Mexico border. Still, Canada moved rapidly to appease Trump’s concerns with a $1.3-billion border security plan.
There are additional helicopters and drones in the sky above the border and officers with canine units on the ground. Provincial governments have also boosted border resources.
In response to questions about a report in the Globe and Mail that said the federal government sent packages of video clips to Trump and his team, McGuinty said sharing video with the U.S. is not uncommon.
“It is likely to help show the investments that we’re making and that they’re working,” McGuinty told reporters Wednesday.
Canadian officials are likely well aware that the president has an affinity for images and videos. It was reported during the first Trump administration that the president preferred his briefings short and full of photos, videos and graphics.
During his first administration and throughout his campaign last year, Trump often repeated lines from conservative Fox News hosts. His new Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth is a former Fox News personality.
Premiers have already taken advantage of the president’s viewing habits. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Ontario Premier Doug Ford have made numerous appearances on Fox programs in an attempt to talk Trump out of hammering Canada with tariffs.
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said Canada has seen some success in making its case in direct conversations with state and federal lawmakers.
“But there’s one person, in particular, whose mind we need to have land in a favourable direction for Canada,” Kinew said, alluding to Trump without saying his name.
Kinew, a former broadcaster himself, said there’s value in selling Canada’s border security plan through easily consumable images and videos.
“If you see me or (Saskatchewan Premier) Scott Moe standing along a border with conservation officers, and if there’s a Blackhawk helicopter landing somewhere near Emerson playing on TV, I think that that helps strongly to make the case with the United States of America that we are taking border security seriously,” he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 30, 2025.
