There is a sad acknowledgment that it’s his own business if he runs his personal empire into the ground, but it’s everyone’s business when he undermines brave people fighting for their country. Canadians need to realize that we are being stiff armed by the Trump protection racket too, and in its own way is just as incoherent and devoid of purpose as the Ukrainian debacle.
Great article! Your description of how Trump dealt with Kabul is great and very apt. I'd just note that Trump also signed a deal with Afghanistan on rare earth minerals. Then he signed a withdrawal deal with the Taliban over the heads of Kabul that basically gave the Taliban free rein to prepare for their final offensive. So much for the rare earth minerals deal now. I'd also add one more point. Now that Trump has ended US aid to Ukraine, Putin has no incentive to come to the negotiating table. It is in his interest to push the Ukrainians, force them to use up key US-supplied weapons and push his advantage. The more he presses the Ukrainians, the greater his potential wins in the peace, erm, surrender, negotiations. There is no rush for Putin as, perversely, Trump is now convinced that Zelensky and Ukraine are the obstacles to peace, not Russia.
I'd call Trump and his team assholes, but assholes have a useful, vital function. It'd be too kind.
Trump and his team are like a group of punks with spray cans, sincerely believing that their grafitti is 'art', but lacking any real talent, or any background whatsoever in art history or form, roaming around public and private property the world over spraying their names and 'USA' everywhere in boring, predictable block lettering, crowing to each other and to their gang hangers-on about how amazingly artistic their 'tags' are. They are spray painting over useful, practical structures and magnificent examples of actual art indiscriminently. Some of these garish spray painted eyesores will be able to be cleaned off and/or painted over, but some things will be ruined forever.
The only good these punks will do is wake up the neighborhood (Canada and the rest of the world) that we cannot count on the American police and military anymore to control their hoodlums, and others in the world. We will all have to get serious about our own securities, and economies.
Great article, indeed a really important clarification of what really transpired in the Oval Office last Friday (only a week ago?).
The *problem* is that British Prime Minister Keir “Who is Canada?” Starmer now is trying to con / bully Zelensky into caving to Trumpty Dumpty’s blackmail, all in a fruitless effort to save the UK’s supposed “special relationship” with the US. Starmer should realize that is just another longstanding “agreement” that is no longer worth the price it was written with. The world order is changing, time to move on.
The lesson for Canadian leaders is to hold firm — no dropping our anti-tariff plans until Trumpty Dumpty withdraws his assault on us.
Thank you! I never thought I would write these words in this order, but the future guarantor of European liberty might well be the French. They've long felt overshadowed by the US-UK special relationship and sought more influence and respect in diplomatic affairs. With the US and the UK each having rendered themselves far more irrelevant than they used to be, I think Macron correctly believes that this is France's moment, and he's intent on seizing it.
Canadas tariff response is still wrong because it hurts Canadians with higher prices and won’t meaningfullly affect the US. Canada has failed to use facts to stand up to Trump and that’s likely why we’re getting unequal treatment right now compared to Mexico. (Mexico was smart enough to challenge Trump about USMCA - why Canada hasn’t pointed out that Trump is breaking a contract and there could be consequences for that, I sure don’t know. But we’ve also completely ignored the illegal gun, drugs, and immigrants crossing from US to Canada. Why Trudeau has allowed this discussion to occur on trumps terms and for Canada to be painted into a corner due to silence is beyond me.
Yeah. But what if he rescinds his resignation and says, " I have to stay on to save the nation in these horrible times ? " I do not see the citizenry having the balls to finally heave him out.
...couldn't possibly be because having a trade war has been really good for Liberal electoral fortunes...? They didn't initiate it, but they sure do WANT it to happen.
Please explain to me how increasing the prices that Canadians pay at the stores will hurt the US? (Tariffs are a tax on imports. Adding tariffs hurts Canada - not the US. Pretty sure Canadians aren’t ready to give up orange juice - they’ll just pay more for it. Those tariffs aren’t going to hurt Americans. But their own tariffs will hurt them.)
Hurting ourselves isn’t going to help us. That’s just not how tariffs work.
And nobody understands Trump. He’s not rational and anybody who claims to understand him is delusional.
Tariffs hurt both parties, the distribution of the hurt depends on the relevant supply and demand elasticities.
Trump is talking about making us the 51st state and you think Canadians aren't willing to give up orange juice? I would suggest that you underestimate us.
If you really think Canadians giving up orange juice is going to change anything that Trump does, then I don't know what to tell you. Also putting a tariff on a product doesn't mean people won't buy it. But just for fun I did a bit of math - with 2021-2022 data as that's most recent. US exports of orange juice to Canada were down at the time and hadn't rebounded from the pandemic. Brazilian orange juice is the main competitor for US orange juice and is already less expensive, but people choose to pay more for Florida orange juice. Anyways - Canada imported 97.8 million liters of US orange juice. The US consumed 527 million liters of orange juice domestically (and also imported a significant quantity). I didn't look up the quantity the US exported to other countries - which would be necessary for an actual accurate number - but just using these 2 numbers, pretending there are no other countries in the world who would buy US orange juice and that the US market wouldn't drink it themselves and just reduce their own imports, Canada accounts for 15% - AT MOST, of the US orange juice consumption.
So a few people stop buying it. It's not meaningful to the US.
As another measure, you can look at how much orange juice (as a whole - ignoring imports vs exports) contributes to US GDP - $174 million dollars. The US GDP is $27.72 trillion. The math on that is that orange juice represents .0006% of the US GDP, and the majority of it is domestic market.
So please tell me again how you think any reduction in Canadian imports of orange juice are going to impact the US and motivate Trump? And how this non-impact to the US justifies inflation and higher cost of living to Canadians.
Trump despises Justin, and the feeling is mutual. Until Justin is gone Trump will play him and Canada like a fiddle. And I doubt if Carney will be an improvement.
I’m still hoping that the conservatives can win the election with a majority government. I know people on Ontario are more optimistic of liberal fortunes and view Carney as a Savior. I don’t think he is - the question is just how quickly will he implode?
If you follow the news, you would know that there has been no proper attempt to actually stand up to Trump. Americans may have voted for Trump but that doesn't make them anti-Canadian. I've personally had conversations with colleagues in the US who have thought fentanyl was the issue - and changed their minds when educated that the border is a dual sided issue. Millions of Americans think that tariffs are for fentanyl and Canadian fentanyl is killing millions of Americans and Canada should have to pay. Trudeau could've easily addressed that. So yes - it's a big part of the problem. We're spending a billion dollars that could be better spent elsewhere, to try to appease someone who changes their mind more often than their underwear. It is a fool's errand to try to appease Trump - but I don't for a minute believe the majority of Americans are supportive of it. And I likewise don't think Americans are willing to pay more for prices if they understood it's not a fentanyl issue that is going to get fixed by the higher prices.
SOMETIMES - things actually are a communications issue and you just have to educate the masses. Trudeau hasn't been strong with Trump. At least not in public.
Great column, the only thing I can disagree with is the point that Trump is a master marketer. That maligns real marketers.
Trump is a master grifter, conman, blowhard and bully. And the piece correctly points out that without his father, Trump would have nothing and be nothing. Without the millions he started with from his father, he'd just be another low level used car salesman.
Arguing with him is a waste of time. Giving him the time of day is a waste of time. Time is better spent getting real work done while waiting for the next occupant of the White House.
Trump’s attempt to strong-arm Zelensky into a one-sided mineral deal and a hollow ceasefire exposed his weak negotiating hand, while Zelensky, backed by Europe, refused to play along with a surrender disguised as peace.
Imagine a world where a self-proclaimed master negotiator walks into a deal holding no real leverage, yet believes bluster alone will force his opponent to submit. That’s the world Trump has created for himself. He sees Ukraine as desperate, but Zelensky has already learned the price of trusting hollow agreements, and unlike Kabul, Kyiv is not alone. Europe is rallying, Russia is bleeding, and the battlefield is telling a different story than Trump’s theatrics. The real nightmare for Trump isn’t just that Zelensky refuses to fold—it’s that Ukraine, backed by determined allies, might actually win, leaving him exposed not as a dealmaker, but as a man shouting at reality, powerless to change it.
I'd be delighted if two years from now Ukraine, with the help of it's newly determined allies, wins its war or peace with Russia.
I'd also be delighted, if, two years from now, Canada, newly invigorated from it's recently won independence from the US, had pipelines from Alberta to the Pacific and to the Maritimes in the final stages of readiness, and had LNG terminals ready to ship on both coasts, and had more interprovincial trade than trade with the US and had some serious laws on the books to stop the fentanyl gangs and cartels in BC and Toronto and, if the Leafs win a Stanley Cup.
Unfortunately, the Leafs winning the Cup is most likely.
But no one will rally around Vance. Trump has the base.......when he goes, who fills the vacuum? Is Mike Johnson going to kiss Vance's ass? How much push the donors have is key, but I think it's a house of cards. 75 million people are jumping up for Vance.
Perhaps. Will Vance be as devoted to Russia? Or are there already quiet meetings going on about whether they can stomach this? Will the Supreme Court bow to Vance the way they have to Trump? Vance is a rabid misogynist bible thumper. Most of what Trump has done is technically illegal. I just see him as a much easier impeachment, with no power to wield over anyone. He's a cartoon character. Without massive support, the house of cards collapses.
No, I haven't been invited to any of the meetings. :) Obviously, there is a lot of wishful thinking. The US is in crisis. I think that crisis will explode if Trump dies.
DT's business failures are documented. By the end of the 90s, there remained 1, just one, financial institution that would take his call. The Apprentice was a lucky thing, and saved him when he desperately needed cashflow to avoid debt restructuring which would have exposed his failures. This is why he started licensing everything including his farts.
Like every other narcissistic personality disorder, he cannot entertain the thoughts and needs of another if there’s the smallest chance of a conflict with his wants and needs. Wants and needs are indistinguishable to such a sociopath, because any “no” is another daddy-disapproval to this orange child. Anyone who's negotiated with such a creature expects all the toys to be thrown from the pram at any pushback, because there's 0 self-control.
So, he doesn't have the tools to negotiate, and aping him is the only option for advisors. This condition is why he is, and will always be, an easy mark. All the other side needs to remember is that he’s only negotiating for affirmation. I think Zelensky is that smart and knows to throw empty affirmation at orange jesus, until enough time has passed.
Of course, Delirium Tremens needs Zelensky to believe he will fail. It’s belief that has destroyed Russia’s criminal, murderous military, and belief that stands between Trump and Putin. What else is between those two should be clear in the fulness of time, and I suspect we’ll be appalled.
If the only thing that changes as a result of Drama Queen Donnie’s pathetic blackmail attempt on Ukraine is the breakdown of interprovincial trade barriers, Canada should count it as a huge win.
Well written! I can’t believe the number of Americans who raved about the Trump and Vance scolding. The wool is so far over their eyes the light hardly penetrates.
Thank you Clarke. This is the best thing I've read about that awful Friday. I think the world was stunfucked, to borrow from Jen--you've allowed me (and others, I see) to regain a realistic, and useful, perspective.
I enjoyed this summary of Trump The Deal Maker.
There is a sad acknowledgment that it’s his own business if he runs his personal empire into the ground, but it’s everyone’s business when he undermines brave people fighting for their country. Canadians need to realize that we are being stiff armed by the Trump protection racket too, and in its own way is just as incoherent and devoid of purpose as the Ukrainian debacle.
One of the best articles on the subject I have read. Excellent understanding of the cast of characters. Thanks
Great read, thank you. Waiting for Trumps’ heart attack. Imagine Vance as POTUS? Nope. Me neither.
I can. After he helped Trump turn USA into a dystopian tyranny, with ample Russian KGB instructions.
Great article! Your description of how Trump dealt with Kabul is great and very apt. I'd just note that Trump also signed a deal with Afghanistan on rare earth minerals. Then he signed a withdrawal deal with the Taliban over the heads of Kabul that basically gave the Taliban free rein to prepare for their final offensive. So much for the rare earth minerals deal now. I'd also add one more point. Now that Trump has ended US aid to Ukraine, Putin has no incentive to come to the negotiating table. It is in his interest to push the Ukrainians, force them to use up key US-supplied weapons and push his advantage. The more he presses the Ukrainians, the greater his potential wins in the peace, erm, surrender, negotiations. There is no rush for Putin as, perversely, Trump is now convinced that Zelensky and Ukraine are the obstacles to peace, not Russia.
Copycat exit of Vietnam.....
Bang on.
I'd call Trump and his team assholes, but assholes have a useful, vital function. It'd be too kind.
Trump and his team are like a group of punks with spray cans, sincerely believing that their grafitti is 'art', but lacking any real talent, or any background whatsoever in art history or form, roaming around public and private property the world over spraying their names and 'USA' everywhere in boring, predictable block lettering, crowing to each other and to their gang hangers-on about how amazingly artistic their 'tags' are. They are spray painting over useful, practical structures and magnificent examples of actual art indiscriminently. Some of these garish spray painted eyesores will be able to be cleaned off and/or painted over, but some things will be ruined forever.
The only good these punks will do is wake up the neighborhood (Canada and the rest of the world) that we cannot count on the American police and military anymore to control their hoodlums, and others in the world. We will all have to get serious about our own securities, and economies.
P. D. Q.
Great first two sentences. The rest also.
Great article, indeed a really important clarification of what really transpired in the Oval Office last Friday (only a week ago?).
The *problem* is that British Prime Minister Keir “Who is Canada?” Starmer now is trying to con / bully Zelensky into caving to Trumpty Dumpty’s blackmail, all in a fruitless effort to save the UK’s supposed “special relationship” with the US. Starmer should realize that is just another longstanding “agreement” that is no longer worth the price it was written with. The world order is changing, time to move on.
The lesson for Canadian leaders is to hold firm — no dropping our anti-tariff plans until Trumpty Dumpty withdraws his assault on us.
Thank you! I never thought I would write these words in this order, but the future guarantor of European liberty might well be the French. They've long felt overshadowed by the US-UK special relationship and sought more influence and respect in diplomatic affairs. With the US and the UK each having rendered themselves far more irrelevant than they used to be, I think Macron correctly believes that this is France's moment, and he's intent on seizing it.
Canadas tariff response is still wrong because it hurts Canadians with higher prices and won’t meaningfullly affect the US. Canada has failed to use facts to stand up to Trump and that’s likely why we’re getting unequal treatment right now compared to Mexico. (Mexico was smart enough to challenge Trump about USMCA - why Canada hasn’t pointed out that Trump is breaking a contract and there could be consequences for that, I sure don’t know. But we’ve also completely ignored the illegal gun, drugs, and immigrants crossing from US to Canada. Why Trudeau has allowed this discussion to occur on trumps terms and for Canada to be painted into a corner due to silence is beyond me.
Because Justin is too busy traveling the world on his farewell tour.
Yeah. But what if he rescinds his resignation and says, " I have to stay on to save the nation in these horrible times ? " I do not see the citizenry having the balls to finally heave him out.
The new leader is announced on Sunday. Trudeau will be gone soon enough.
...couldn't possibly be because having a trade war has been really good for Liberal electoral fortunes...? They didn't initiate it, but they sure do WANT it to happen.
Churchill " never let a good crisis go to waste"
I think the Liberals response is correct. You don't seem to understand trump at all.
Please explain to me how increasing the prices that Canadians pay at the stores will hurt the US? (Tariffs are a tax on imports. Adding tariffs hurts Canada - not the US. Pretty sure Canadians aren’t ready to give up orange juice - they’ll just pay more for it. Those tariffs aren’t going to hurt Americans. But their own tariffs will hurt them.)
Hurting ourselves isn’t going to help us. That’s just not how tariffs work.
And nobody understands Trump. He’s not rational and anybody who claims to understand him is delusional.
Tariffs hurt both parties, the distribution of the hurt depends on the relevant supply and demand elasticities.
Trump is talking about making us the 51st state and you think Canadians aren't willing to give up orange juice? I would suggest that you underestimate us.
If you really think Canadians giving up orange juice is going to change anything that Trump does, then I don't know what to tell you. Also putting a tariff on a product doesn't mean people won't buy it. But just for fun I did a bit of math - with 2021-2022 data as that's most recent. US exports of orange juice to Canada were down at the time and hadn't rebounded from the pandemic. Brazilian orange juice is the main competitor for US orange juice and is already less expensive, but people choose to pay more for Florida orange juice. Anyways - Canada imported 97.8 million liters of US orange juice. The US consumed 527 million liters of orange juice domestically (and also imported a significant quantity). I didn't look up the quantity the US exported to other countries - which would be necessary for an actual accurate number - but just using these 2 numbers, pretending there are no other countries in the world who would buy US orange juice and that the US market wouldn't drink it themselves and just reduce their own imports, Canada accounts for 15% - AT MOST, of the US orange juice consumption.
So a few people stop buying it. It's not meaningful to the US.
As another measure, you can look at how much orange juice (as a whole - ignoring imports vs exports) contributes to US GDP - $174 million dollars. The US GDP is $27.72 trillion. The math on that is that orange juice represents .0006% of the US GDP, and the majority of it is domestic market.
So please tell me again how you think any reduction in Canadian imports of orange juice are going to impact the US and motivate Trump? And how this non-impact to the US justifies inflation and higher cost of living to Canadians.
Trump despises Justin, and the feeling is mutual. Until Justin is gone Trump will play him and Canada like a fiddle. And I doubt if Carney will be an improvement.
I’m still hoping that the conservatives can win the election with a majority government. I know people on Ontario are more optimistic of liberal fortunes and view Carney as a Savior. I don’t think he is - the question is just how quickly will he implode?
"Canada has failed to use facts to stand up to Trump"
You can't seriously think that's the problem?
If you follow the news, you would know that there has been no proper attempt to actually stand up to Trump. Americans may have voted for Trump but that doesn't make them anti-Canadian. I've personally had conversations with colleagues in the US who have thought fentanyl was the issue - and changed their minds when educated that the border is a dual sided issue. Millions of Americans think that tariffs are for fentanyl and Canadian fentanyl is killing millions of Americans and Canada should have to pay. Trudeau could've easily addressed that. So yes - it's a big part of the problem. We're spending a billion dollars that could be better spent elsewhere, to try to appease someone who changes their mind more often than their underwear. It is a fool's errand to try to appease Trump - but I don't for a minute believe the majority of Americans are supportive of it. And I likewise don't think Americans are willing to pay more for prices if they understood it's not a fentanyl issue that is going to get fixed by the higher prices.
SOMETIMES - things actually are a communications issue and you just have to educate the masses. Trudeau hasn't been strong with Trump. At least not in public.
Great column, the only thing I can disagree with is the point that Trump is a master marketer. That maligns real marketers.
Trump is a master grifter, conman, blowhard and bully. And the piece correctly points out that without his father, Trump would have nothing and be nothing. Without the millions he started with from his father, he'd just be another low level used car salesman.
Arguing with him is a waste of time. Giving him the time of day is a waste of time. Time is better spent getting real work done while waiting for the next occupant of the White House.
Trump’s attempt to strong-arm Zelensky into a one-sided mineral deal and a hollow ceasefire exposed his weak negotiating hand, while Zelensky, backed by Europe, refused to play along with a surrender disguised as peace.
Imagine a world where a self-proclaimed master negotiator walks into a deal holding no real leverage, yet believes bluster alone will force his opponent to submit. That’s the world Trump has created for himself. He sees Ukraine as desperate, but Zelensky has already learned the price of trusting hollow agreements, and unlike Kabul, Kyiv is not alone. Europe is rallying, Russia is bleeding, and the battlefield is telling a different story than Trump’s theatrics. The real nightmare for Trump isn’t just that Zelensky refuses to fold—it’s that Ukraine, backed by determined allies, might actually win, leaving him exposed not as a dealmaker, but as a man shouting at reality, powerless to change it.
I'd be delighted if two years from now Ukraine, with the help of it's newly determined allies, wins its war or peace with Russia.
I'd also be delighted, if, two years from now, Canada, newly invigorated from it's recently won independence from the US, had pipelines from Alberta to the Pacific and to the Maritimes in the final stages of readiness, and had LNG terminals ready to ship on both coasts, and had more interprovincial trade than trade with the US and had some serious laws on the books to stop the fentanyl gangs and cartels in BC and Toronto and, if the Leafs win a Stanley Cup.
Unfortunately, the Leafs winning the Cup is most likely.
Trump is a Russian asset. He can't have a massive stroke soon enough.
Vance would be no better.
But no one will rally around Vance. Trump has the base.......when he goes, who fills the vacuum? Is Mike Johnson going to kiss Vance's ass? How much push the donors have is key, but I think it's a house of cards. 75 million people are jumping up for Vance.
He'd be President. Doesn't matter if they would or not. He'd have the same powers.
As for Johnson, everything Trump has done so far in his second term has been without Congress. No reason to think Vance wouldn't do the same.
Perhaps. Will Vance be as devoted to Russia? Or are there already quiet meetings going on about whether they can stomach this? Will the Supreme Court bow to Vance the way they have to Trump? Vance is a rabid misogynist bible thumper. Most of what Trump has done is technically illegal. I just see him as a much easier impeachment, with no power to wield over anyone. He's a cartoon character. Without massive support, the house of cards collapses.
No, I haven't been invited to any of the meetings. :) Obviously, there is a lot of wishful thinking. The US is in crisis. I think that crisis will explode if Trump dies.
A great take on this issue. I love it!
YUP
DT's business failures are documented. By the end of the 90s, there remained 1, just one, financial institution that would take his call. The Apprentice was a lucky thing, and saved him when he desperately needed cashflow to avoid debt restructuring which would have exposed his failures. This is why he started licensing everything including his farts.
Like every other narcissistic personality disorder, he cannot entertain the thoughts and needs of another if there’s the smallest chance of a conflict with his wants and needs. Wants and needs are indistinguishable to such a sociopath, because any “no” is another daddy-disapproval to this orange child. Anyone who's negotiated with such a creature expects all the toys to be thrown from the pram at any pushback, because there's 0 self-control.
So, he doesn't have the tools to negotiate, and aping him is the only option for advisors. This condition is why he is, and will always be, an easy mark. All the other side needs to remember is that he’s only negotiating for affirmation. I think Zelensky is that smart and knows to throw empty affirmation at orange jesus, until enough time has passed.
Of course, Delirium Tremens needs Zelensky to believe he will fail. It’s belief that has destroyed Russia’s criminal, murderous military, and belief that stands between Trump and Putin. What else is between those two should be clear in the fulness of time, and I suspect we’ll be appalled.
If the only thing that changes as a result of Drama Queen Donnie’s pathetic blackmail attempt on Ukraine is the breakdown of interprovincial trade barriers, Canada should count it as a huge win.
Excellent write-up.
Well reasoned article!
Thanks for this.
Well written! I can’t believe the number of Americans who raved about the Trump and Vance scolding. The wool is so far over their eyes the light hardly penetrates.
Thank you Clarke. This is the best thing I've read about that awful Friday. I think the world was stunfucked, to borrow from Jen--you've allowed me (and others, I see) to regain a realistic, and useful, perspective.