OTTAWA — Michigan’s Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate has called President Donald Trump “an asshole” for launching a trade war against Canada, the state’s largest export market.Abdul El-Sayed made the remark Saturday while addressing the Michigan Democratic Party’s nominating convention, where he attacked Trump’s tariffs and accused Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers of refusing to defend the state’s economic interests.“I mean, Canadians are the only people I know who are going to pre-emptively apologize for something they didn’t even do,” El-Sayed said.“If you’re picking a war with Canada, you’re just an asshole, and Mike Rogers wants to look the other way.”El-Sayed has made the Canada-U.S. trade dispute a central attack against Rogers, accusing the former Republican congressman of being unwilling to challenge Trump.Earlier in the week, El-Sayed accused the president of escalating the dispute “for his own vanity.”.“Trump is escalating a trade war with Canada for his own vanity, and Mike Rogers is going to do nothing but rubber-stamp it,” he said.Rogers has supported Trump’s broader tariff agenda, although he said last week that tariffs were “necessary” but were not a “one-size-fits-all solution.”The dispute carries significant economic consequences for Michigan, whose automotive, manufacturing and agricultural sectors are closely integrated with Canadian supply chains.Michigan exported $23.2 billion in goods to Canada in 2025, accounting for 39% of the state’s total goods exports.Automotive components frequently cross the Canada-U.S. border several times during production, meaning tariffs can add costs at multiple stages before a finished vehicle reaches consumers.Trump imposed 50% tariffs on approximately $28 billion in Canadian goods after negotiations with Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government collapsed.Canada responded by announcing dollar-for-dollar counter-tariffs on hundreds of American products, including goods produced in politically competitive states such as Michigan.El-Sayed won Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary earlier in August. He will face Rogers in November in a race expected to help determine control of the U.S. Senate.
