This is the September 8, 2026, edition of “The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe” newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered straight to your inbox Monday through Friday.
Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners. And necessity has made us allies. Those whom nature hath so joined together, let no man put asunder.״
— John F. Kennedy, Address to the Canadian Parliament, May 17, 1961
For two centuries, the United States and Canada have shared the longest undefended border in the world.
Winston Churchill understood how extraordinary that was.
In April 1939, as Europe moved toward another world war, Churchill praised that long frontier as “guarded only by neighborly respect and honorable obligations.”
It was, he said, “an example to every country and a pattern for the future of the world.”
The Peace Arch still stands on that border today, bearing the words: “Brethren dwelling together in unity.”
For generations, Canada has been a trusted ally, friend, and neighbor — helping America thrive because we didn’t need to worry about war to the north.
You could see that bond this spring during the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Cami Clune was singing “O Canada” in Buffalo when her microphone went out. Nineteen thousand of Buffalo’s finest fans finished the anthem for her.
It was beautiful.
And that’s what makes this administration’s treatment of Canada so bizarre.
Canada’s retaliatory tariffs went into effect just after midnight, hitting roughly $20 billion worth of American goods.
Donald Trump has renamed Lake Ontario “Lake America.” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent compared Canada to a “little yippy dog” barking at a German shepherd.
But here’s what Bessent and his billionaire friends seem to miss: You can’t hurt Canada without hurting Americans.
That’s especially true in Maine, Michigan, Alaska, and Ohio — states where this trade war is hitting local economies and shaping Senate races this fall.
In Maine, family restaurants and small businesses got hammered last summer when Canadians who usually crossed the border simply stopped coming.
For many of those families, summer tourism is what gets them through the winter. It’s what lets them reopen in the spring and keep businesses that have been passed down for generations alive.
Maybe it’s a joke to Bessent and his billionaire friends.
It’s not a joke to the families whose businesses won’t reopen next spring.
POLLS OF THE DAY
Source: FiftyPlusOne.
Note: FiftyPlusOne aggregates various state polls.
ON THIS DATE
On Sept. 8, 2022, Queen Elizabeth II died at age 96 after seven decades on the British throne.
Queen Elizabeth II, 1952. Bettmann Archive via Getty Images
WHAT THEY SAID
Willie Geist on Iran
“For months now, President Trump has just wanted this war to go away. He thought it would be four to six weeks and that military decisiveness would prevail — but it has not. Gas is $4.15 a gallon this morning. It was $3.20 a year ago today. Republicans don’t know how and when this war that President Trump called ‘small potatoes’ will end.”
David Ignatius on Scott Bessent comparing Canada to a “little yippy dog”
“I think there’s a competition among Trump’s inner circle to be as nasty and vituperative as the president is — but surely Bessent knows this is self-destructive. It’s just a self-perpetuating problem.”
Sarah Longwell on Trump’s broken promises
“Trump is deeply unpopular, even with his own supporters. Voters, especially people who aren’t super plugged in to politics, hired him to do two things: lower prices and not get into stupid wars. He is getting us into stupid wars. And he is not lowering prices.”
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