Former Prime Minister of Canada Jean Chrétien joked about burning down the White House Sunday in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s saber-rattling—calling back to the acrimonious War of 1812 between the two nations. Speaking to a Liberal Party gathering after the party elected Mark Carney as its new leader, Chrétien said he was “too old” to set Trump’s new home alight, reflecting on the more than 200-year-old conflict as a reminder of how the country defended itself against U.S. intervention. “During the war of 1812, American troops came to what is now Canada on a mission of conquest,” Chrétien said in his speech, which he described as a “little history lesson” to Trump. “Some [Canadian soldiers] apparently burned down the White House at that time,” he added, earning laughs from the crowd. “But I’m too old to do it... it’s a joke,” he quickly noted. The statement comes as Trump continues to escalate his trade war on America’s northern neighbor, imposing tariffs and threatening to annex Canada and make it the “51st state.”
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