Snapshot: Trump Broke What Wasn't Broken

Canada's Prime Minister says the "old relationship" with America "is over" and "the U.S. is no longer a reliable partner." The road to repair will be long.

American and Canadian flags at the border in Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Geoff Robins/AFP via Getty Images)

No one voted for Donald Trump to destroy America’s relationship with our good neighbor and top trading partner, Canada, but here we are. The words last week of Canada’s new prime minister, Mark Carney, make clear that the road to repair will only reopen once Trump no longer occupies our White House.

“The old relationship we had with the United States based on deepening integration of our economies and tight security and military cooperation is over,” Carney said, following a meeting with his cabinet to discuss Canada’s response to Trump’s tariff threats. “It’s clear the U.S. is no longer a reliable partner. It is possible that with comprehensive negotiations, we could reestablish an element of confidence but there will be no going backwards.”

This comes in the wake of not only 25 percent tariffs affecting key industries and goods, but also Trump’s idiotic insistence that Canada should become the 51st U.S. state.

Prime Minister Carney was not done. “We will need to dramatically reduce our reliance on the United States,” he added. “We will need to pivot our trade relationships elsewhere.”

To underscore his point, Carney then talked about planned trips to France and the United Kingdom, “two long-standing and reliable partners, friends and allies of Canada.”

Every day, more than $2.7 billion worth of goods and services cross the border between Canada and the U.S. This provides a clear dollar value on the importance of the economic relationship.

But the malignant man whose businesses declared bankruptcy six times and has 34 felony convictions for falsifying business records thinks he knows better how to do business and manage the economy. Tomorrow he’s foolishly announcing his “Liberation Day,” a new set of tariffs to “free” the U.S. from foreign goods, an unnecessary trade war that we can expect will lead to higher prices for American consumers, a rise in inflation, further decline of the U.S. stock market and slowed growth for the economy overall.

This after being handed an economy that The Economist called in October “the envy of the world.”

Carney’s office already promised that the Canadian government will implement retaliatory tariffs against Trump’s actions tomorrow “to protect Canadian workers and our economy.” This despite a call between Carney and Trump on Friday that Carney called a “very constructive conversation” and Trump posted was “extremely productive.”

There was also talk of new negotiations about the two countries’ economic and security relationship after Canada’s federal election on April 28. But let’s be clear: Whatever positive outcomes could emerge from such discussions is only because Trump broke something that was not broken and then wants to take credit for fixing it.

Yet fixing what he’s breaking will be tough. There’s a limit to how much uncertainty, conflict and economic peril our good and decent neighbor—and others swept up in this trade war—will endure from this vengeful man who never should have touched the levers of power again.

In harming Canada, Trump is harming America. It will be up to us to show our continuing support for Canada now and to back rational leaders going forward who will work energetically to repair what’s been broken once this lunacy is over.

Please consider becoming a paid subscriber for $50 a year or just $5 a month, if you’re not already. This helps sustain and expand the work of America, America, keeps nearly all the content free for everyone and gives you full access to the comment sections. That has never been more important.