As Trump’s time in office nears the 100-day mark, things seem to be getting more and more absurd. Possibly in no clearer way than the President’s habit of continuously starting problems with not just countries, but allies of the United States. Sure, there is actual tension between the US and North Korea or China — of varying levels for different administrations — but usually, those disagreements are where diplomatic finesse is needed, not with America’s closest allies and neighbors.
And especially not Canada. Canada, the latest target of Trump’s borderline inexplicable behavior, hasn’t caused or had any major issues with the US in years. But now, with Trump’s frustration over Canadian lumber being imported into the United States has escalated to the point where things have gotten truly out of hand and is even threatening NAFTA. While the dispute has been an ongoing and fluctuating issue since the early 80’s it’s never reached the heights where US constituents are acutely aware of a lumber fight with Canada. But there’s a positive in all of this as Seth Meyers points out in his latest “A Closer Look.” The specific kind of lumber that is causing the disagreement is “softwood lumber” which means news anchors and comedians everywhere can repeatedly say “soft wood” and have there be a legitimate reason to do so.
Which doesn’t mean that it’s not hilarious to say “soft wood” over and over, even if it is tied to a NAFTA disagreement that could affect everybody. Whenever it feels like Trump and the administration are making questionable choices, you can just remember that he made “soft wood” and “stumpage” (according to Seth “that’s his nickname for Donald Jr.”) part of the 24-hour news cycle for multiple days. Silver linings.
Seth’s best line using the fun verbiage is definitely, “this isn’t the first time Trump has had to pull out because of some soft wood. I’m sorry NAFTA this has never happened before” but watch the entire video above to get the full hilarity of the situation.