What Hoekstra reportedly told the closed-door meeting
According to CTV reporting cited in the coverage, Pete Hoekstra, the US ambassador in Ottawa, told business leaders behind closed doors that Democratic victories in a set of competitive races, Maine and Michigan among them, could complicate matters for Canada. The reasoning attributed to him was that Donald Trump might respond to such losses by assigning blame to the northern neighbor. The story circulated quickly through Canadian and US outlets, several of which carried only headline-level accounts of the same closed-door event.[S1][S2][S3][S4]
Mark Carney, Canada's prime minister, was asked about the account while traveling and described the way the argument had been put as an interesting framing rather than confirming or denying the substance. The US embassy rejected the interpretation, saying the ambassador's words had been grossly taken out of context from a wider discussion, and insisted that Hoekstra has consistently argued Canadian media inflate the weight of Canadian questions in US contests. The embassy added that American voters will settle American elections on the issues that matter to them.[S1]
A tariff war and a disputed interference claim
For months the two countries have been trading retaliatory measures, with Ottawa answering US tariffs it regards as unlawful and aiming at goods from states whose economies lean on Canadian trade. Carney said Canada would pursue a trade agreement if one became available, but that Ottawa's negotiators are not in that position at present. Coverage of the closed-door report also noted his caution about the readiness of a deal.[S1][S5]
More recently Hoekstra has accused Canadian officials of meddling in US elections, citing Canadian politicians who have criticized the tariffs on US media and an Ontario anti-tariff advertisement broadcast in the United States. He said such activity was being watched and evaluated and warned that America would respond if any of it amounted to interference, while telling Canadians to keep out of US politics. Industry minister Mélanie Joly, a target of those comments, said Canada would never do such a thing and would not accept it being done to Canada either. Carney said the interference claims had no merit and that he was disappointed the envoy saw making such suggestions as part of his role.[S1]
Why the ambassador's standing in Canada is so low
Hoekstra is a polarizing figure north of the border, largely because of how he handled Trump's talk of absorbing Canada as a 51st state. On a Michigan radio station last year he called the threats a sign of affection and asked why Canadians took offense at what he described as a generous offer, and he had earlier labeled Canada's 2025 federal election anti-American. A House of Commons petition signed by more than 225,000 Canadians sought his removal, arguing his statements breached diplomatic norms, including the bar on envoys meddling in a host country's internal affairs.[S1]
Roland Paris, who directs the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa and advised former prime minister Justin Trudeau on foreign affairs, said the reported remark was an extraordinary thing for an ambassador to say about his host country and resembled an attempt to manufacture a pretext for the Trump administration's own political difficulties. He argued that an envoy's task includes keeping communication open and managing disagreements, and that Hoekstra's interventions have repeatedly worsened tensions rather than easing them. Paris doubted the ambassador was serving either American interests or his president's.[S1]
Domestic politics on both sides of the border
Paris pointed to US polling in which voters increasingly connect tariffs, the war and the cost of living, and to broad puzzlement over why the White House treats Canada as a trade adversary. He said the approach is plainly not working in Canada and has the opposite effect, with each Hoekstra remark leaving Canadians more resolved to resist pressure from the Trump administration. The dispute has also spilled into US campaign politics: Barack Obama, at a Democratic rally in Detroit, mocked Trump's focus on Canada and joked about a well-known evil empire next door, listing Martin Short and maple syrup among its exports and observing that the nicest people had been made angry.[S1]
The ambassador's record includes a confrontation at a Canadian American Business event last year, where witnesses described an expletive-laden tirade at Ontario's trade representative after the province ran US advertisements against the tariffs featuring Ronald Reagan. Ontario's premier called the outburst absolutely unacceptable and unbefitting an ambassador. The embassy's denial of the latest account leaves the underlying question open: whether a diplomat who has become a lightning rod in Canada can still function as a channel between the two governments while the tariff dispute continues.[S1]
