NAPLES, Maine-Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who faces her toughest re-election campaign to date, is working closely with top Trump administration officials to try to lessen the impact of the U.S.'s escalating trade dispute with Canada.

But she says President Trump's own tone and rhetoric surrounding the tariffs have been inappropriate and unhelpful in her border state, whose culture and economy is intertwined with the U.S.'s northern neighbor.

"We're linked in so many ways. It's economic, it's emotional, and to hear the president gratuitously calling prime ministers 'governor' or suggesting that Canada should be part of the United States or renaming Lake Ontario is painful," Collins said in an interview. "It is not conducive to getting back to the table and resolving these issues."

Collins has called the trade dispute a "mistake" and said the Trump administration has underestimated the impact on Maine families, but the comments were her sharpest to date about the president's handling of the trade war that is becoming a flashpoint in border states such as Maine, Michigan and Alaska with competitive Senate races in the November elections.

The White House didn't immediately comment.

Trump this week stepped up his tariff spat with Canada, threatening to ban imports of Canadian alcohol, dairy products and motorcycles later this month. He has also taunted Prime Minister Mark Carney online, posting an AI photo of him standing over the prime minister in hockey gear, telling him to "get up, governor," and signing orders to change the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America.

The fight has had an outsize impact on Maine, which counts Canada as its top trading partner, with $6 billion in two-way trade annually. The tit-for-tat trade war could further disrupt the state's economy in a midterm election that has already been dominated by inflation, high gasoline prices and the impact of the war with Iran.

The tariff debacle complicates Collins's re-election bid in a Senate career that has spanned nearly three decades. She is considered one of the most vulnerable GOP incumbents, and a CNN poll this week showed her Democratic challenger, Troy Jackson, at 48%, and Collins at 45%, among likely voters.

The poll, which had a margin of error of 3.7 percentage points, found that two-thirds of Maine voters disapproved of Trump's handling of his job as president and 70% said the increased tariffs on Canadian goods were a "bad thing" for Maine.

The senator has traded text messages with Vice President JD Vance, held phone calls with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and talked to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick about the on-the-ground ramifications-to blueberries, timber, fishing and potatoes-in her home state.

She said that Vance, with whom she served in the Senate, has been "very helpful" on the trade fights during Trump's second term, recalling a dinner she held with Vance and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles in 2025 to discuss with them how the USMCA trade agreement affected the state's paper mills.

"I really appreciate that he always answers my text messages," Collins said of Vance.

Asked in the interview if she intended to speak to Trump about the trade dispute, Collins said, "I think I can be more effective in talking to the vice president, to Ambassador Greer, to Secretary Lutnick. I think that those are avenues for me to get to the micro level and talk to them," Collins said.

The administration has also let up on some tariffs on key items from Canada, signing orders to exempt cement and road salt from his most recent tariffs, replacing those levies with tariffs on other Canadian goods. While the ultimate dollar value of the tariffs will remain virtually unchanged, Collins took it as a victory for her lobbying efforts.

Canada also moved to exempt lobster and other seafood products from its tariffs after what officials said was feedback from its fisheries industry.

Accepting an endorsement of a business organization at a sand and gravel company in the state's Lakes Region on Thursday, Collins said she was "successful in prevailing upon the administration to not impose tariffs on Canadian rock salt," an essential in the state's harsh winters. She told reporters she had heard from local leaders in Presque Isle, near her hometown of Caribou, who said they would have faced $60,000 in additional costs on rock salt if the dispute had continued.

Collins, who skipped the GOP midterm convention in Dallas to campaign in Maine this week, is the lone GOP senator seeking re-election who represents a state won by former Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024. Democrats are bullish that Jackson, a former state lawmaker with close ties to labor unions, can put her on the defensive in the northern Maine communities that have repeatedly voted for her.

Jackson, in an interview, said that Collins's efforts on trade have been insufficient and that she hasn't used her powerful perch as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee as leverage.

"She's not willing to push back against Trump. They're all scared of him, and here's another example of how it's hurting this state and this country, and she won't really do anything," he said.

"It's a little nibbling around the edges for stuff. Road salt is not going to put food on people's tables," said Jackson.

Collins said Jackson was "mocking my success" on the issue and that he was being dismissive of the added costs facing communities.

Collins said her staff has held discussions with aides to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D., N.Y.) about drafting legislation to demand the termination of the Canadian tariffs, noting that these types of measures typically originate from the House. Collins last year voted for a resolution that would have nullified an earlier set of Trump's tariffs on Canada, which were imposed under a different legal authority.

Collins has also been reaching out to senators who represent border states, including Alaska Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan.

The trade war has spanned Trump's second term. After months of relative calm, the U.S. turned up the pressure again in July, saying it would tariff $20 billion worth of Canadian goods if the sides couldn't come to a deal. When last-minute talks failed, Trump imposed those tariffs, and Canada struck back with its own levies, prompting Trump to respond further with the trade prohibitions announced this week.

Collins, in the interview, said the dispute is personal for her. She recalled traveling to Quebec City as a child before she ever visited Boston. She said her sister-in-law is French Canadian and her nieces are bilingual and hold dual citizenship. And she suggested the president's rhetoric has hurt the state's tourism industry by discouraging Canadian visitors.

"It is so inappropriate and unhelpful," she said. "Last summer was really tough for areas like Old Orchard Beach," a tourist community south of Portland popular with Canadians. "And it had rebounded this summer, and now it's going to plunge back down."