Trump wades into Canadian politics with kudos for Parti Québécois, B.C. Conservative wins

While he is fully engaged in a tight midterm election battle in his own country, U.S. President Donald Trump is still finding time to step into politics north of the border by congratulating the recently elected premiers of Quebec and British Columbia.

Comments come as Trump administration accuses Canada of U.S. election interference

Peter Zimonjic · CBC News

· Posted: Oct 27, 2026 3:10 PM EDT | Last Updated: 13 minutes ago

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While he's fully engaged in a tight midterm election battle in his own country, U.S. President Donald Trump is still finding time to step into politics north of the border by congratulating the newly elected premiers of Quebec and British Columbia. 

Praise for the sovereignist premier of Quebec, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, and Conservative premier-designate Lorne Doerkson, came Tuesday in a pair of posts on Trump's Truth Social platform. 

The highly unusual move breaks with the tradition of U.S. presidents and Canadian prime ministers only offering public congratulations to their direct counterparts.

Trump's praise of St-Pierre Plamondon came with a dig at Prime Minister Mark Carney. He linked to an article in the Irish Times carrying the headline: "Separatists win Quebec provincial election in blow to Mark Carney."

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet responded by suggesting Trump's comments would be more relevant if he wanted to talk about cutting tariffs.

"Actually Mr. Trump is unpredictable and not so meaningful of what he says.... There's no lost love between Quebecers and Mr. Trump," Blanchet said.

WATCH | Bloc leader on Trump's comments:

Trump congratulating new Quebec premier 'not so meaningful': Bloc leader

51 minutes ago|

Duration

0:52

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet says there's 'no lost love' between Quebecers and U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump's comments would only be 'relevant' if they were about mutually reducing tariffs, said Blanchet.

The salute to Doerkson's "big victory" was described by the president as an example of conservatives "moving strong in Canada."

Trump first congratulated the incoming B.C. premier on the night of his election win, in a post that was shared by U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra on X. 

The B.C. Conservatives' win on Saturday was the party's first victory in about a century, a fact noted in that post.

Conservative doesn't equal MAGA

Hoekstra's message was reposted by several prominent Conservatives who, rather than join in the celebration, criticized the president for his lack of knowledge about Canada and his ambassador's decision to amplify it. 

"It is impressive how bad you are at understanding the basic elements of your job or the simple truths of the country you are privileged to live in," former Conservative cabinet minister James Moore wrote to Hoekstra. 

Stephen Harper's former communications director, Dimitri Soudas, quoted Doerkson's comments from September about "unacceptable threats, tariffs and rhetoric from a bully south of the border" as he shared Hoekstra's post.

• U.S. says Carney government brushing off 'potential interference'

• Canadians caught up in Trump voter fraud crackdown

Ken Boessenkool, a former senior policy adviser to Harper and the federal Conservative Party, tried to explain that being conservative in Canada doesn't mean being aligned with Trump.

"The MAGA party in B.C. is called One B.C. They got 1.5 per cent of the vote. More than Trump would get, I suspect," Boessenkool said in a post on X, referring to Trump's "Make America Great Again" movement.

"Like you, they are an embarrassment to the concept of conservatism."

Election interference and endorsements 

Polls show Trump's dispute with Canada is deeply unpopular among American voters in both major parties.  

Many online drew attention to the irony of the Trump administration's accusations that Canada is interfering in the U.S. midterm elections — where polling suggests the Republicans are struggling — while poking his own nose into Canada's politics. 

The U.S. Embassy in Ottawa released a "fact sheet" last week pointing to instances that could amount to "potential interference in U.S. elections" including the Nov. 3 midterms.

That accusation came despite Trump's record of endorsing political candidates around the world since returning to the White House.

Since early 2025, Trump has backed presidential or prime ministerial candidates in Poland, Honduras, Colombia and Japan.

Most recently, he voiced support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The U.S. president also put his support behind former Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán's failed re-election bid, which included Vice-President JD Vance appearing at a rally in Budapest.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Peter Zimonjic is a senior writer for CBC News who reports for digital, radio and television. He has worked as a reporter and columnist in London, England, for the Telegraph, Times and Daily Mail, and in Canada for the Ottawa Citizen, Torstar and Sun Media. He is the author of Into The Darkness: An Account of 7/7, published by Vintage.