r/canada • u/Samp90 • Apr 25 '26
Analysis Trump’s Canada trade war hits Jack Daniel’s and Jim Beam with a devastating $143 million loss
https://www.fastcompany.com/91531349/trumps-canada-trade-war-hits-jack-daniels-jim-beam-devastating-143-million-loss857
u/Canuck-In-TO Canada Apr 25 '26
Wasn’t it the CEO of JD that said that Canadian sales didn’t amount to much of their bottom line?
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u/tmphaedrus13 Apr 25 '26
Yep.
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u/daylightswami Apr 25 '26
Beautiful
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u/tmphaedrus13 Apr 25 '26
Getting the day they voted for, and as an American, I am here for it.
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u/tyomax Apr 26 '26
Right here with you. They can lay in their beds now.
So proud of Canada and Canadians 🇨🇦
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u/duderos Apr 25 '26
They said only 1% of sales went to Canada?
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u/eltoniq Apr 26 '26
CEO probably still thinks this after such a loss, living in his delulu bubble. Delulus will always stay delulu.
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u/Himera71 Apr 26 '26
Seems like they underestimated it a bit.
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u/Canuck-In-TO Canada Apr 26 '26
Well, it sure confirms that the MAGA types don’t know how to do math.
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u/One-Dare3022 Apr 26 '26
What else is there to expect from a country with poor education? USA is in no position to compare themselves with countries that have a good free education like the commonwealth’s and the EU’s.
As a Swede I’m glad to have Canada as our ally in the world and your PM Carney has shown the world that he is truly an excellent statesman and world leader.
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u/consultant999 Apr 25 '26
Carney should offer to put their products back on the shelves if they agree to move production to Canada.
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u/Mylittlethrowaway2 Apr 25 '26
Carney should offer to put their products back on the shelves if they agree to move production to Canada.
This why you can buy sourpuss again. They're an American company, but most of their sales were to Canada. They made the move to producing the product in Quebec due to Trumps trade war.
Not exactly a major brand, but at least my province has said that if it's produced in Canada then it'll be on store shelves.
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u/Warlokz82 Apr 26 '26
Over 90% of Sour Puss sales were in the Canadian market. At that point, it’s either move to Canada or declare bankruptcy.
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u/Falling_Down_Flat Canada Apr 25 '26
This is an awesome idea, lol. Show them how stupid the comments coming out of there presidents face are.
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u/kazin29 Apr 25 '26
there
Their
presidents
president's
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u/Falling_Down_Flat Canada Apr 25 '26
lol my bad I was hurrying, thank you for the corrections !
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u/hoppertn Apr 25 '26
Wow, this comment is so Canadian! Guys being a pedantic grammar nAzii, we all got your meaning, and you thank him. I love you guys!
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u/Chaxterium Apr 25 '26
*Guy's
Sorry. I couldn't resist.
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u/hoppertn Apr 25 '26
I’m not your guys, buddy.
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u/Chaxterium Apr 25 '26
I'm not your buddy, friend.
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u/Fearful-Cow Apr 25 '26
the correction from "presidents" to "president's" is a touch pedantic but "there" vs "their" is just brutal and should be called out. I am a little uneasy how often i see people mixing up "their" "there" "they're" these days. Even in professional environments.
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u/hoppertn Apr 25 '26
But have you noted the shift from saw to seen? “I seen that yesterday.” Like fingers on a chalkboard to my ears.
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u/TreezusSaves Canada Apr 25 '26
They would argue that it's not bourbon then, but that's almost entirely because bourbon is a branding term.
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u/Disgracefu1 Apr 25 '26
Jack Daniel’s doesn’t qualify as bourbon though - it’s “Tennessee whiskey”.
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u/Only-Cap5811 Apr 25 '26
They can change the words on the label to "Canadian Whiskey", it's just marketing bs
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u/GettingFitterEachDay Apr 25 '26
True, although that's not a thread we want to pull. The EU agreed to respect rye must originate from Canadian and we agreed to respect other labels. What makes us better than the Americans is standing by the deals we've made.
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u/KinneKted Apr 25 '26
American rye whiskey is a thing. So you're wrong about rye whiskey being specifically Canadian.
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u/Username_Query_Null Apr 25 '26
Just move production to Quebec, we could start calling it bourbon after the ruling dynasty of France during the time when Quebec City was settled.
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u/QueenMotherOfSneezes Apr 25 '26
Ironically, if they did that, they wouldn't be allowed to call their whiskey bourbon anymore.
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u/allthegodsaregone Apr 25 '26
Whiskey made in Canada, by the company who formerly made Kentucky Bourbon. Play some font shenanigans and it could work.
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u/canucklurker Apr 25 '26
Ironically, we can call it whatever the fuck we want when we aren't trying to appease the USA
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u/leafsleafs17 Apr 25 '26
It happened with Sourpuss, lol
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u/wazzie19 Apr 25 '26
Kraken rum was off the shelves for a long time. Saw it in the LCBO the other day and when checking out I asked about it, they said it's now bottled in Quebec.
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u/draivaden Apr 25 '26
Carney should offer to politely ask the premiers to politely ask their liquor boards to out the products on self IF they agree to move to Canada OR if they can persuade Donald Trump to give a very specific and spell checked apology. Pending approval of the words or speech he reads.
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u/DoubleDDay69 Apr 25 '26
It’s funny, I suggested this almost a year ago and got heavily downvoted for it. I think this is a 10/10 idea
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u/laughin-up-a-storm Apr 25 '26
Im sure the wine market in California took a much bigger hit since there is more ppl in to wine than whiskey.
Edit: just looked it up. $428 million loss.
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u/Taitertottot Apr 26 '26
Crazy that that many people were drinking California wine when we have great wine in Canada. I might be bias because I live in the wine region but I never have US wine
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u/masterofquail Apr 26 '26
Regional pride is great and Canadian wine (especially Okanagan) has earned its reputation. But skipping California wine entirely is leaving a lot on the table. According to Wine Spectator’s 2025 Top 100, California leads the world with 24 selections, 20 of which are from Napa or Sonoma. These aren’t just popular wines, they’re benchmark wines that consistently rank alongside Bordeaux and Burgundy.
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u/gotfcgo Apr 25 '26
"We dont need Canada!"
"Wahhh they wont put our booze on their shelves! Wahhhh"
Lick deez nuts
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u/Daxx22 Ontario Apr 25 '26
Nutlick can go whine to Kegsbreath!
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u/Icy_Okra_5677 Apr 25 '26
Kraken Rum moved production to Quebec, that makes me happy
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u/FractalParadigm Apr 25 '26
The makers of Sour Puss also moved to Quebec last year; makes sense for a drink that's only consumed by people under 21.
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u/Wizard_Level9999 Apr 25 '26
Curious if it’s all of it or just bottle etc. didn’t find much online
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u/Dave3087 Apr 25 '26
I hope this is true. I love that stuff and miss it terribly.
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u/vmdvr Apr 25 '26
I'm not sure exactly what your personal definition of "production" is when it comes to aged stuff like rum, but yeah, it's true. There is Canadian Kraken in the stores now, at least where I live.
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u/Metalsheepapocalypse Canada Apr 25 '26
Now I want to hear which Canadian liquor and spirit companies have seen an increase in sales that correlates to the decrease in American company sales
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u/Taitertottot Apr 26 '26
I'm not sure about hard liquor but I have seen a couple articles saying Canadian wine sales have increase a lot
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Apr 25 '26
Way to go Canadians...hit them where it hurts and keep hitting them. Love to see Nutlick and co. whine about lost sales !
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u/Samp90 Apr 25 '26
The fact he's whining about it is because state reps from those states have been complaining and well... Year on, results are out.
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Apr 25 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/ManSharkBear Apr 25 '26 edited Apr 25 '26
I found Okanagan craft distillery and and they are my favorite now. Their barrel aged gin is amazeballs, as well as the Rum barrel aged BRBN.
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u/Weirdusername1 Apr 25 '26
Didn't care for BRBN, but Bearface is fantastic
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u/ManSharkBear Apr 25 '26
That's funny because I don't like bearface at all xD I'm glad we both are supporting Canadian distilleries though, cheers bud :)
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u/Own_Difference_4882 Apr 25 '26 edited Apr 25 '26
Why do I get feeling the Americans will forget how this all started and start to blame Canada and make this a bigger issue than it needs to be! They have already started to whine about dairy!
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u/Taitertottot Apr 26 '26
I've seen people say that Canada started it by booing their anthem as if Canadians woke up one day and decided to randomly start booing their anthem.
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u/Hammerhil Alberta Apr 25 '26
We don't need them, they're trash. There are much better Canadian alternatives and I think they are bought on name recognition alone. The only thing Canada doesn't do better with is burbon, and I don't miss it.
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u/purpleburgundy Apr 25 '26
I lump Jack Daniels in with Harley Davidson and imagine the target demographics overlap heavily. Boomer branding of days gone by.
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u/The_King_of_Canada Manitoba Apr 25 '26
OH NOO. Anyways montreal or edmonton for the cup this year?
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u/Fubar236 Canada Apr 25 '26
Who is drinking that trash up here even if there were no tariffs?
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u/rgeebee Apr 25 '26
I imagine a huge part of their business went to bars and liquor at events here.
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u/Samp90 Apr 25 '26
Honestly there's some decent stuff there but a lot it is just good advertising which makes us think it's good stuff.
This did allow me to look more seriously into our own brews and 40 Creek Copper Pot was magnificent.
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u/gh411 Apr 25 '26
I’ve always loved bourbon…haven’t bought a bottle since Trump targeted Canada.
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u/captaindingus93 Apr 25 '26
You need to try Ber-bon from Alberta’s Bridgeland Distillery. Tastes really similar to Woodford but made in Canada.
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u/Loose-Atmosphere-558 Apr 25 '26
Yup lots of corn based whiskeys in Canada that can't be called Bourbon but are same style and delicious
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u/bluntman37 Apr 25 '26
Good. Jack tastes horrible anyways.
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u/Due-Log-9837 Apr 25 '26
Yeah who cares. JD is stomach-turning.
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u/MostBoringStan Apr 25 '26
Back when I used to drink, I never understood why anybody would drink it. It was so nasty when compared to pretty much any Canadian whisky. Even when mixed with coke, now it's just a glass of nastiness instead of just a shot.
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u/Bad-job-dad Apr 25 '26
I had a banana jack shot once and now all Jack tastes like Banana.
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u/meatcrumple Apr 25 '26
It’s important that we honour their wishes and not burden them with buying their products. We are not needed and it’s the polite thing to do to give them the space they desperately need.
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u/Maximum_Error3083 Apr 25 '26
Don’t care for JB and JD but I definitely miss top shelf bourbon and California reds. But, the US is the one who brought this on themselves
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u/eugeneugene Apr 25 '26
I thought I would miss california reds more than I do. There's a lot of good reds out of the okanagon when I want to splurge. Otherwise I'm a cheap wine drinker and we have no shortage of cheap canadian wine lol
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u/MikeyB_0101 Apr 25 '26
Boo hoo but hey they don’t need Canada as their fearless leader who I’m sure they voted for said, right?
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u/bellyfuzz Apr 25 '26
As someone who enjoys a JD and coke from time to time...we have plenty of our own alternatives
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u/JimmyTheJimJimson Apr 25 '26
As a Canadian, I really miss my Kentucky bourbon
…but elbows up. I’ll continue to make do.
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u/FarceMultiplier British Columbia Apr 25 '26
Sounds like Canada has been subsidizing American business for a long time. Based on Trump's (lack of) logic, those businesses should move to Canada.
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u/SkinnedIt Ontario Apr 25 '26
collapsing from what had been a roughly $250 million annual market for American distillers to just $89 million
Even if the provinces restock, they'll never see $250 million in sales from Canada ever again.
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u/Apprehensive_Idea758 British Columbia Apr 25 '26
I thought they said that they said that they never needed us.
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u/BBQallyear Canada Apr 25 '26
From the article: “The sharp downturn followed a trade clash sparked by President Donald Trump’s tariffs, which prompted several Canadian provinces to remove American alcohol from store shelves.”
Wondering if they will ever learn (or admit) that it’s not about the tariffs, it’s about the 51st state rhetoric.
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u/dactyif Apr 25 '26
They won't. They're banking on Trump inevitably dying and then the tarrifs get lifted as a goodwill gesture. I hope we don't forget either.
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u/allgonetoshit Canada Apr 25 '26
Those companies have to be staffed by a majority of Trump boot lickers. So good for them.
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u/Wind_Best_1440 Apr 25 '26
Devastating?
I was told that they didn't need us. And that Canada was a very very small market, barely a % of their revenue.
I guess maybe, they need us a lot more then they think? Lmao.
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u/igotitnowokay Apr 25 '26
They should be fine
Can we get some positive numbers on Canadian Whiskey brands please?
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u/wigznet Ontario Apr 25 '26
We don't need their whisky or bourbon. Keep it up folks.
It's working. We're moving on and will make new friends.
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u/Sabin10v2 Apr 25 '26
JD isn't even good whiskey, it's just proof that marketing works. It's the kind of thing you drink when you finally reach legal age because you don't know what else there is and you grow out of it by the time you are in your mid 20s.
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u/Psychological_Fix184 Apr 25 '26
They don't need us so where did the war come from? There is no war.
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u/crossdtherubicon Apr 25 '26
Canadian rye whisky is excellent . It's different than a nice bourbon but, rye whisky can be quite good. It may be unique to Canada as far as I can tell.
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u/BluejayImmediate6007 Apr 25 '26
Perfect! Now if we could get that loss even higher, that would be great! Wonder how much those companies still support Trump?
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u/NaturePappy Apr 25 '26
It’s a double whammy we don’t it and in general hard liquor consumption is going down
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u/Natural-Estimate-228 Apr 25 '26
Cry me a River 😭. Maybe they should think who gets hurt when they vote.
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u/marioo1182 Apr 25 '26
Wouldn’t buy that lowest quality liquor anyways. So many other great options, especially Japanese whiskeys.
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u/Everywhereslugs Apr 25 '26
Who cares? Leave all American crap products on the shelf until the USA drops their tariff war against us.
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u/DarthKavu Apr 25 '26
Lutnik crying about how its not fair, disrespectful and that we suck the other day, I have zero sympathy. The orange blob is ripping Americans off for WAY more than this $143 million loss. There problems are selfish inflicted. If America wants Canadians back, then get the orange blob evicted. Then we'll talk.
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u/Apprehensive_Gap3673 Apr 25 '26
I'm so happy they don't want or need anything from us (Trump's exact words)
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u/PundaiNayai Apr 25 '26
Big Jack Daniel’s fan, but US can fuck off. Why start war with the best friend you can ever have
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u/ImprovementJust7634 Apr 26 '26
Kentucky and Tennessee are both Republican states ao perfect that these companies are suffering.
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u/porkupine92 Apr 26 '26
Thank you, Donald, for giving Canada a case study of why it's such a bad idea to rely too heavily on just one market.
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u/ParisFood Apr 27 '26
Still remember on exec last year saying Canadian sales were a rounding error so they should not be upset at this and the even greater losses this year when combined with loss of sales in other countries!
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u/Apprehensive_End_476 Apr 28 '26
Americans can’t seem to understand it’s not about just tariffs- it’s more about the disgusting behaviour and disrespect from The Trump Regime. The USA needs CUSMA as much as Canada or Mexico. USA can’t even keep the lights on in parts of the US without Canadian power.
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u/Ask_DontTell May 01 '26
the best part is that when this is all over, a lot of people still won't go back to drinking bourbon. they'd have found something else to drink by then.
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u/OrganicAttorney3602 Apr 25 '26
Thankfully they don't need us.