'Didn't Canada burn down White House': Trump to Trudeau when asked to justify US tariffs as national security issue

United States President Donald Trump late last month questioned Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over Canada's role in burning down of the White House in1812.

Over a testy phone call on May 25, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked the United States President as to how he could justify the tariffs as a national security issue, to which Trump responded saying, "Didn't you guys burn down the White House?" referring to the War of 1812.

This comes after new tariffs were imposed by the Trump administration targeting steel and aluminium imports coming from Canada.

As per CNN, the British troops burnt down the White House during the War of 1812. It is believed that the British attack on Washington was in retaliation for the American attack on York, Ontario, in territory that eventually became Canada. Back then, it was a British colony.

Earlier on Wednesday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rejected the United States' (US) proposal to scrap the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and sign a bilateral trade pact.

Earlier, Trump said that if the revised NAFTA deal gets signed, he will drop the newly-imposed 25% tariffs on the aluminium and steel products.

NAFTA is an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America, which came into force on January 1, 1994.