U.S. Embassy accuses Canada of election meddling while Trump backs six foreign leaders

U.S. officials accuse Canada of midterm meddling, but Trump has his own track record of weighing in on foreign elections. President Donald Trump has endorsed about half a dozen candidates across the globe since he returned to the White House in early 2025. He has endorsed candidates in Poland, Honduras, Colombia, and Japan, and recently voiced support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is facing an election on Tuesday. He also put his support behind former Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán's failed re-election bid, and weighed in to last year's midterms in Argentina, suggesting that a financial support package would hinge on a good result for President Javier Milei's party.

The U.S. Embassy in Ottawa released a 'fact sheet' on Wednesday pointing to instances that could amount to 'potential interference in U.S. elections.' The embassy's release pointed to instances such as Liberal MP Anthony Housefather canvassing for a Florida Democrat, comments made by Industry Minister Mélanie Joly regarding Canada's counter-tariff strategy, and the Ontario government's now infamous Ronald Reagan ad that ran in the U.S. last year. The embassy's list also included a federal government billboard campaign from early 2025.

The U.S. Embassy's list came after Ambassador Pete Hoekstra and Trump adviser Peter Navarro warned against Canada getting involved in the midterms. Carney and other government officials have pushed back on the suggestion that Canada is looking to interfere. 'There is no merit to these claims, so I'll call it out that way,' Carney told reporters during a news conference in Istanbul on Friday. 'I'm disappointed that their envoy sees that as his role, to make these suggestions,' the prime minister said of Hoekstra in particular.

The trade war has become a pressure point on Republican candidates in border states like Michigan and Maine. Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who has represented Maine since 1997 and has tried to distance herself from Trump's tariffs, said Friday that she 'secured' some exemptions to those levies. 'I will continue working directly with administration officials to seek additional relief and encourage a broader trade agreement with Canada, our neighbour, ally and largest trading partner,' she said in a social media post.

Republican candidate for Michigan's open Senate seat Mike Rogers released a 30-second ad criticizing tariffs earlier this month. 'Here in Michigan we know that Canada is not our enemy. We need to end this tariff war now,' Rogers says in the ad.

Daniel Drezner, a professor of international politics at Tufts University in Massachusetts, said U.S. officials suggesting Canada is interfering in the midterms is a situation of the 'pot calling the kettle black,' given Trump's track record. The truth is that this administration has had a long track record of intervening directly into the elections of official allies, he told CBC News in an interview.