What Trump is Doing With Canada is Not America First

Because I grew up in Canada, I’m still a Canadian at heart. But I’ve been living in the United States for so long that I’m also an American at heart. The beauty of loving both countries is that we have been so close for so long it was never an issue.

Trump’s recklessness has blown that up. By starting a trade war with our Canadian cousins, he’s forcing people to take sides. That is divisive and unnecessary.

Trump can’t even get his beef straight.

As reported in NRO: “[Trump] has said the U.S. trade deficit with Canada is as high as $250 billion. The trade deficit in goods was $64 billion in 2023, and $55 billion through the first eleven months of 2024, according to the Census Bureau.”

His new tariffs won’t even help Americans.

NRO adds: “Want to help American autoworkers? They will be harmed by these tariffs, as cars cross borders several times during their manufacture. American farmers? They, too, will be harmed, when foreign retaliation shrinks their export markets. American consumers battered by inflation? They’ll be harmed by this tax hike.”

But putting aside the economics, it is the animosity towards a friend that stings the most.

Here’s the thing about Canada. Growing up in Montreal, we always had this sense of awe about our big cousins in the south. We were in awe of their power and success. How could we not be? Sure, we thought Americans could be loud and crass and even arrogant, but we were grateful for their friendship.

That relationship was often tested, but somehow, we had enough in common that America always felt like family. Our histories are so intertwined it was hard in history class to separate them. Canada was closer to the original mother country of England, but through our long history, we developed a visceral connection based on trust.

“The Americans are our best friends whether we like it or not,” Canadian politician Robert Thompson said in the early 1960s. That statement perhaps best captures the relationship. America is so much more powerful than Canada, but Canadians always trusted that America would never abuse that power.

Now the most powerful man in the world has breached that trust. Instead of having Canada’s back, he’s turning his back on our friends in the north.

It pains me that Trump put Canadians in a position where they are forced to retaliate; to read stories in the Canadian press about Canada fighting back with its own tariffs, knowing that in the end, it won’t stand a chance against its bigger neighbor.

It saddens me to hear that fans of the Toronto Raptors booed the U.S. national anthem. That must be the first time that has happened on Canadian soil.

This is Trump at his worst. A man who embraces confrontation; who enjoys throwing his weight around; who has no problem humiliating an opponent, even when that opponent is a friend.

If Trump had issues with the enforcement level of Canada’s borders or the fairness of our trade deals, that’s what diplomacy is for. Instead of using carrots and sticks, Trump seems to prefer sticks and sticks.

I have sympathy for that hard-nosed approach when dealing with an evil regime like Iran, the world’s #1 sponsor of terror. But sticks and sticks for Canada? Seriously?

I’m neither a Never Trumper nor an Always Trumper. I call each issue as I see it. I’ve praised some things and criticized others. On picking a fight with Canada, I’m clearly on the other side.

Here’s my message to Trump: Please call Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, tell him you were joking about the 51st state, that you’re putting the trade war on hold and you want to have a meeting to negotiate a fair resolution.

Just bring carrots to the meeting.