Trump Isn't Done With Canada
Remember this time last year, when Donald Trump ridiculed our prime minister referring to him as “governor” and suggested that Wayne Gretzky be appointed as the puppet leader of a vassal state?
Trump made it clear that he wasn’t interested in a trade deal with Canada. He wanted to break our nation. And he said we had no choice in the matter because Canada didn’t have the cards.
But Canada didn’t bend.
And over the past year, Canadians have inflicted enormous economic pain on the United States while demonstrating an unprecedented sense of unity.
The latest numbers from the tourism guides IT Travel and World Tour show that the impacts are being felt across the USA’s main tourism regions.
Canadian tourism to Arizona is down 70%.
Cross-border travel in the Buffalo-Niagara Falls region has dropped by 83%.
They note that last year, 66% of Canadian boomers planned to go to the United States. This year, it is less than 10%.
In Snowbird states like Florida, the real estate market has been hammered as Canadians sell off properties and head to Mexico, Costa Rica, or stay home.
Meanwhile, in the United States, polling shows an increase in uncertainty and doubt as a year of Trump-inflicted chaos continues to batter the United States. But so far, we haven’t seen any let-up in the rage tactics, threats, and economic intimidation. Nor are we likely to see any backtracking in the coming year.
Trump isn’t done with Canada.
Canadians should expect more economic intimidation as the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) comes up for negotiations.
In year one of the American war, Trump tried on numerous occasions to dismantle CUSMA by instituting arbitrary, across the board tariffs. Canada responded with the threat of $100 billion in counter tariffs. MAGA wasn’t expecting us to stand up and Trump was forced to back track on a number of his “take it or leave it” ultimatums.
The CUSMA agreement held. It controls 90% of cross border trade. But in January Trump will have a platform to use the CUSMA renegotiations to create more economic chaos.
Trump has three options. He can walk away from the deal totally. He can sign on for long term economic peace. Or he can announce that he will limit support to a one year option while threatening us on a whole array of issues.
I wouldn’t bet a dime that Trump will take the middle option. So that leaves everything from constant economic harassment to the nuclear trade option.
A year ago, these were the things that kept us up all night. But Canada is a tougher country now than it was a year ago. We have been working to diversify and to rethink trade. The impacts could be serious, but they will be felt on both sides of the border.
And this is where Trump will be taught some hard lessons.
He is much weaker than he was a year ago. And so is the United States.
They may have the largest economy in the world, but it was made possible by just-in-time delivery of services from Canada. They can’t take this for granted anymore. Trump’s numerous tantrums have driven home the fragility of an economy that is intricately tied to Canadian suppliers and markets.
The real danger for Canada would be to drop our guard and assume that, since Trump is weaker, he will back off. Don’t bet on it. At the end of year one of the Ukraine war, the optimists believed that Putin was in an increasingly untenable situation. Putin not only held, but he also came back stronger.
And so must we.
Economic chaos will remain part of the struggle with the United States. Will this include an overt threat to Canada? This too is possible.
If so, it will likely come through the Trojan-horse tactics of the Alberta separatist gang. I have reported on the meetings they have been holding in Washington and their claims to have been offered $500 million to help create a breakaway region.
They have also been given enormous leeway by Danielle Smith. She recently overrode the courts by writing legislation that says the courts have no jurisdiction to review the constitutionality of a referendum to break up our country.
It is ridiculous, but Canada seems willing to let her carry on.
Smith also dramatically lowered the number of people who had to sign on to force a referendum. Will she move the separatist referendum ahead of the already credited pro-Canada Alberta referendum?
This too seems likely which gives rise to the dangerous Donbas scenario. Never mind that the Alberta separatists are a marginal group of losers. The referendum would unleash massive political interference in our country and could give Trump the excuse to create a crisis.
MAGA knows they can’t beat us from the outside. And so they will be working to defeat us from within.
A year ago, I would have felt like a conspiracy loon for daring to put such thoughts to paper. Not now. In watching the United States in 2026, we are watching the classic playbook of criminal oligarchs.
We held our own in year one.
We will hold again in year two, but we need to be ready for whatever they throw at us.
As an US American I can assure you that DT will be much worse this year than last! His mental health (and physical) are deteriorating very fast and even his handlers can't control him. It is imperative that Canada holds firm but does not do anything to inflame the situation. PM Carney's steady leadership is imperative. DT has no impulse control, is easy to manipulate, and is under a LOT of stress. Nothing he says can be believed and a cooling off period is critical before any actions are taken, in response to whatever fantasy comes out of his mouth, at any moment. Pres Zelenskyy has him figured out and is doing a great job. PM Carney is as well. DT won't be making decisions a year from now (especially if he keeps taking way more aspirin than prescribed!) so just keep holding the line and please, please, please focus on Alberta and Maple MAGA. That situation could doom both our countries if not controlled soon.
Charlie Angus states excellent reasons why we must keep up our guard against US interference in our domestic politics AND double down on our boycott of both travel to the US and their products and services.🇨🇦