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Trump jokes about tariffs on lettuce and smoke
USA Today • • general
Key Points:
- President Donald Trump joked about imposing tariffs on Mexico for contaminated lettuce linked to a cyclosporiasis outbreak and on Canada for wildfire smoke affecting U.S. air quality during a July 24 Oval Office press conference.
- The cyclosporiasis outbreak has sickened thousands nationwide, with 4,173 laboratory-confirmed cases reported since May 1 and an additional 7,400 suspected cases, affecting 41 states.
- Wildfire smoke from Canadian forest fires has caused significant air quality issues in the U.S., with about 75 million people under air quality alerts in 2023 and cities like Toronto and New York experiencing some of the worst pollution levels globally.
- Trump criticized Canada for the wildfire smoke problem, stating it is a new issue that Canada needs to address, as smoke from Canadian wildfires has increasingly impacted U.S. air quality in recent years.
