One of the most puzzling things about Donald Trump鈥檚 tariff tirades is the country he chooses to put most directly in his crosshairs.
Not China, which runs a rigged trade system and has flooded the United States with cheap goods that destroy American manufacturing jobs. Oh, and is the primary source of the fentanyl that has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans.
Not even Mexico, the source of millions of migrants into the U.S. and home of the drug cartels that funnel tons of illegal substances across the border, while .
No, the object of Trump鈥檚 most sustained derision is democratic, free-trade-friendly Canada. No wonder we鈥檙e twisting ourselves out of shape trying to figure out exactly what his big problem with us is.
This was driven home yet again on Monday when Mexico鈥檚 president, Claudia Sheinbaum, managed to get a one-month delay on the 25-per-cent tariffs Trump has threatened. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau won a similar reprieve, but Trump left Canada hanging all day while the PM scraped up additional offerings (a 鈥渇entanyl czar,鈥 $200 million more to fight organized crime) to appease the president.
Meanwhile, Trump kept trash-talking Canada and added another stone to the pile of grievances he has with us 鈥 banking. He claimed Canada 鈥渄oesn鈥檛 even allow U.S. Banks to open or do business there鈥 (false, by the way). More ominously, he kept circling back to his argument that the U.S. pays 鈥渉undreds of billions of dollars to SUBSIDIZE Canada鈥 and 鈥渢herefore, Canada should become our Cherished 51st聽State.鈥
This started out as what seemed like a joke, then slid into a taunt, and through sheer repetition is now congealing into actual U.S. government policy. Canadians have been cudgeling their brains trying to figure out what Trump really wants. Is it really tougher controls at the border, or is it bigger concessions on trade, more military spending, or some combination?
At this point we must face the very real possibility that what Trump wants is 鈥 us. Perhaps by letting the idea marinate in his brain for a few weeks, egged on by the collection of Grade A sycophants surrounding him, he has crossed some conceptual sound barrier and convinced himself that annexing Canada is not just a rhetorical flourish, but an achievable goal.
Canadians dismiss the idea as absurd (鈥渘ot gonna happen,鈥 etc.) because to us, it is absurd. But why should it be absurd to Trump? Parsing his Oval Office comments on Monday about of tariffs and retaliation, he seemed to be saying he could keep squeezing until the 鈥減ain鈥 got so bad that Canada would just fall into his hands like the proverbial ripe fruit. That鈥檚 what some of his acolytes are saying on social media.
Trying to read Trump鈥檚 mind is probably pointless, but I鈥檓 guessing he simply doesn鈥檛 get the point of this country. It鈥檚 notable that while Mexico is objectively a much thornier problem for the U.S. in terms of migrants and drugs, Trump goes out of his way to emphasize how much he respects Sheinbaum and gives her every benefit of the doubt. Even though she has talked tougher to him than Trudeau ever did.
It鈥檚 inconceivable that Trump would suggest Mexico become the 51st聽state. The idea of absorbing with a much lower standard of living is obviously a non-starter.
But Trump looks north and (Quebec aside) sees a few million people who on the face of it look, speak and live very much like people in Michigan, North Dakota or Washington State. After all, even Canadians can struggle to articulate exactly what makes us different from Americans. We just know it runs deep 鈥 but why would Trump?
In that regard, it鈥檚 our very familiarity that makes us so vulnerable to a predator like the president. Canadian politicians keep citing the fact of our closeness to Americans 鈥 geographically, economically and politically 鈥 as a reason to leave us alone. We鈥檙e family, they plead.
But maybe that鈥檚 just the problem. Our very sameness may well be what makes us, in the eyes of Trump, ripe for the plucking. For him the question may not be 鈥渨hy grab Canada?鈥 It may rather be 鈥渨hy not?鈥
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