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While poking President Donald Trump in the eye, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew also stabbed Prime Minister Mark Carney in the back!
When it comes to Trump, Kinew was in a fighting mood. When it comes to Carney, he’s signalled he’s not going to “cheerlead.”
He also sent out a dog whistle to consumers not to buy American, no matter what!
Move over, Team Canada in trade negotiations with the United States. It was all about Kinew, who raised the “Epstein files” and suggested Trump is a “bad person,” and that negotiators in Washington “fight” instead of compromise and encourage Canadians not to buy American liquor even though Carney came close to “begging” them to restock it.
Selfish, irresponsible and out of his jurisdiction? Or exactly what needs to be said?
Either way, this theatrical performance by Kinew on Thursday was delivered at a critical time for Trade Minister Dominic Leblanc, who said his team is “close” to a deal. But Kinew either let the cat out of the bag on how bad it may be or poured gas on the fire.
Perhaps both!
I noticed in some network videos on @WabKinew 's comments about trade negotiations with @realDonaldTrump , there were key quotes edited out. Most obvious was when Manitoba premier said the province's were "effectively" told by @MarkJCarney to put American booze back on shelves or…
— Joe Warmington (@joe_warmington) August 21, 2026
“I was told by the prime minister that he wants us to put the booze back on the shelves,” declared a smiling Kinew as he swayed side to side in a media briefing, adding he was “effectively” messaged that this is needed to get a deal finalized.
Dispute on whether Carney was begging
While Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston told CBC News “that’s not even close” to what happened, Kinew said, “I wouldn’t say that he was begging us, but what is the step before begging?”
Understanding Carney’s “perspective,” Kinew said, “he’s the one that got on the phone with Donald Trump, which I don’t think any of us want to be on the phone with Trump or in a photo with him, but . . . somebody has to do it . . . You can understand (Carney) got to a place where he can recommend a deal to Canadians. But . . . I think we should fight. I think Donald Trump is very weak. America is weaker around the world today than it was a year ago. He’s about to get slaughtered in the midterms.”
“I think we should fight” and that President Trump is “weak” — Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew pic.twitter.com/E8J3hvxRCo
— Joe Warmington (@joe_warmington) August 21, 2026
Ouch! How can this help closing a deal?
Kinew added Trump is “completely out of touch with the cost of living of Americans” and “I think we’ve got the upper hand. They’re back on their heels right now.”
Agree or not, how could one premier throw a lit match like that? All week, there has been a media narrative suggesting no deal is better than a bad deal with Trump.
Perhaps a future prime minister candidate, Kinew took it to a whole other level. On U.S. liquor returning, Kinew said, “Stick with Canada. We have labels on our shelves. You see a maple leaf, buy that. You see the stars and stripes, maybe keep browsing.”
Bargaining in bad faith
Not even in the room, this is bad-faith bargaining when you tell your base to boycott products even after a deal is agreed upon. Purchasing decisions should be up to the consumer, not the government.
Said Kinew: “Right now we haven’t decided to put the booze back on the shelves, but hypothetically, let’s say that there was a deal that the prime minister really, really recommended, and we decided to put the booze back on the shelves, what I would say to Canadians is ‘leave it there.” If we put the booze back on the shelves, ‘don’t buy it; let it sit on the shelf where the liquor mart employees will be putting it by the Canadian stuff instead.’”
“I was told by the prime minister that he wants us to put the booze back on the shelves” — Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew pic.twitter.com/46lD2gPuQ8
— Joe Warmington (@joe_warmington) August 21, 2026
He then made it personal about Trump: “Very wise people have said, you can’t get a good deal with a bad person. I think that applies here.”
Trump has yet to comment.
While Kinew did not mention his own apology in 2017 “to everyone I have hurt along the way” for previous criminal convictions when he was an “angry, self-centered young man” who has “worked hard to make myself a better member of our society,” he did say “President Trump is a reason why we are all paying so much at the gas pump right now — because of his misguided war in Iran and I could go on and on and on about the Epstein files and you know I will.”
Other than trying to blow up negotiations, it’s hard to understand why Kinew would try to provoke so contentiously? Kinew, however, foreshadowed an agreement where there are still “tariffs in the deal and we have a big steel plant in Selkirk, Manitoba” and that he would “love the tariffs to be zero.”
Kinew mocked Trump
Then using Trump’s voice in a mocking way, Kinew said “some people are calling it a doctrine” that “no CUSMA (Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement), no Boozema.”
The premier asked when will “American elected representatives grow some backbone and stand up to a president who’s raising the cost of living on their constituents?” He also called out the Canadian negotiating team, saying things have been “leaked by the federal government” to “the media.”
Manitoba Premier mocks President Trump and said he’s “skeptical” about Prime Minister Mark Carney’s potential deal and held not going to “cheerlead” pic.twitter.com/I9NuOC933e
— Joe Warmington (@joe_warmington) August 21, 2026
Even without seeing a finalized agreement, Kinew admitted, “I’m skeptical” and “I’m not going to cheerlead things here.”
Do you appreciate Kinew’s forthrightness? Or could a premier going rogue blow up this deal that could result in damage to the Canadian economy for generations to come?