Trump blames Canada for the wildfires; fears mount over the World Cup final
From Detroit to Washington, American cities woke up shrouded in a blanket of smoke from the wildfires that have been ravaging Canada for days.
This phenomenon, combined with the scorching heatwave that has swept across the United States in recent days, has triggered a pollution alert and risks causing disruption to the World Cup final between Argentina and Spain, which is due to take place on Sunday in New Jersey in the presence of Donald Trump and the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez.
According to the BBC, informal meetings are taking place between White House officials – including Andrew Giuliani, head of the World Cup task force – and FIFA representatives. The US president has attacked Canada, accusing it of “deliberate negligence” and threatening to add, on top of the tariffs it is already paying, the costs of the damage that this wave of fires is also causing in the United States.
“We hold Canada responsible for failing to maintain its forests and associated vegetation,” thundered the tycoon. “This is causing an unjustified invasion of the United States by dirty, polluted and unhealthy air, the quality of which is dangerous and utterly unacceptable!” he added, announcing that he would be contacting Prime Minister Mark Carney. “The costs are incalculable!” Trump went on to say.
Regardless of the accusations, this is a serious problem for the millions of people living in the affected cities. According to a global air quality index, pollution levels in five major North American cities are higher than those in cities that normally top the rankings, including Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nairobi in Kenya.
