On 6 June 2018, CNN reported that during a 25 May 2018 phone call with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, United States President Donald Trump referenced the War of 1812, and accused the U.S. neighbor and ally of burning down the White House:

President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had a testy phone call on May 25 over new tariffs imposed by the Trump administration targeting steel and aluminum imports coming from Canada, including one moment during the conversation in which Trump made an erroneous historical reference, sources familiar with the discussion told CNN. According to the sources, Trudeau pressed Trump on how he could justify the tariffs as a “national security” issue. In response, Trump quipped to Trudeau, “Didn’t you guys burn down the White House?” referring to the War of 1812.

Since the CNN report was published, both the New York Times and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation separately confirmed the accuracy of the report.

A read-out of the call posted to the White House web site says only:

President Donald J. Trump spoke today with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada about the North American Free Trade Agreement and other trade and economic issues.

We reached out to Trudeau’s office, and his spokesman Matt Pascuzzo told us he was unable to comment on the discussion but pointed us to the Canadian readout of the call:

Today, the Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, spoke with the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump. The leaders discussed the North American Free Trade Agreement including bringing the negotiations to a timely conclusion. The Prime Minister also raised strong concerns about the U.S.’s Section 232 investigation on automobile imports, given the mutually beneficial integration of the Canadian and American auto industries.

On 31 May 2018, the White House announced the imposition of tariffs on imported Canadian steel and aluminum, drawing a sharp rebuke from Trudeau, who took to Twitter to say Canada will fight the “illegal and counterproductive measures” and that it was “simply ridiculous” to view any type of trade with Canada as a national security threat:

Americans remain our partners, friends, and allies. This is not about the American people. We have to believe that at some point their common sense will prevail. But we see no sign of that in this action today by the US administration. — Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) May 31, 2018



One of CNN’s sources told reporters it was unclear if the comment was interpreted as a joke by Trudeau, saying, “To the degree one can ever take what is said as a joke. The impact on Canada and ultimately on workers in the US won’t be a laughing matter.”

Even if the president’s statement was meant in jest, it is an inaccurate characterization of history. Canada did not exist as a country until 1867, but as the Times explained, it’s not that simple: