\n \n <\/p>\n
The president has gone out of his way to criticize and even disparage the most successful military alliance in history, constantly\u00a0creating uncertainty and division within NATO.\u00a0He has falsely claimed that the Alliance has never come to\u00a0America\u2019s aid, and wouldn\u2019t be there in the future.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Trump has apparently forgotten about the\u00a0NATO soldiers who fought and died alongside\u00a0Americans in Afghanistan in the wake of 9\/11.\u00a0He has even suggested that the\u00a0U.S.\u00a0might not come to the aid of other NATO members if they were attacked by\u00a0Russia.<\/p>\n
The president\u2019s illegal, unjustified, and calamitous war against Iran has created what some experts are calling the gravest energy crisis in history.<\/p>\n
By declaring war on Iran without any imminent threat to the U.S. or its interests, all the president has managed to do is get 13\u00a0American service members killed,\u00a0several hundred others wounded, and inflict gross civilian casualties in Iran.\u00a0And one other thing: Trump has\u00a0also closed the\u00a0Strait\u00a0of Hormuz, shutting down one of the world\u2019s most important supply lines for oil, gas, and fertilizer.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
As a result, experts are predicting famine in poorer countries that need fertilizer to produce their own food.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, motorists in the U.S. are now paying more than $4 a gallon for\u00a0gasoline,\u00a0$1\u00a0more than they were paying just a\u00a0few short weeks ago.\u00a0And now Trump has ordered the U.S. Navy to impose a blockade on shipping from the Strait of Hormuz.\u00a0The world energy shortages will only increase, and could go on for months.<\/p>\n
And that is not the only hardship that Trump\u2019s policies have imposed on Americans.\u00a0In order to pay for his obscene tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy, Trump has made draconian cuts to Medicaid.\u00a0More than 12 million Americans would lose their coverage after the president\u2019s trillion-dollar cut to the program.<\/p>\n
What makes Trump so dangerous\u2014and such a\u00a0\u00a0problem for Carney\u2014is that he doesn\u2019t play by any rules but his own.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
What is Carney to do with a country that is Canada\u2019s most important trading partner, accounting for north of 85 per cent of our exports, when it is run by a man who has said he\u00a0would like to make this country his 51st state?\u00a0When Carney said that would never happen, Trump advised \u201cNever say never.\u201d<\/p>\n
What is Carney to do with a president whose\u00a0impudence and\u00a0insolence extends to declaring that\u00a0Canada is not a real country at all, and only exists because the U.S. allows it to?<\/p>\n
And what is Canada\u2019s PM to do with an\u00a0American administration filled with sycophants like Commerce Secretary\u00a0Howard Lutnick who parrots his boss\u2019 insulting drivel in advance of the upcoming renegotiation\u00a0of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico free trade deal, CUSMA?<\/p>\n
For starters, he has\u00a0criticized Canada\u2019s trade deals with China, calling Carney\u2019s recent trade trip \u201cnuts.\u201d\u00a0In particular, Lutnick thought that importing Chinese EVs in expectation of selling Canadian goods to Beijing was fantasy.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lutnick has also said that the\u00a0\u00a0North American free-trade agreement was a bad deal, registering his disdain for Canada\u2019s negotiating position in those talks in blunt and vulgar terms:\u00a0\u201cThey\u00a0suck\u201d he said.\u00a0The deal, he said, has to be reimagined to America\u2019s benefit.<\/p>\n
Memo to Lutnick the loose-lipped.\u00a0What sucks is the insolence and ignorance of the U.S. commerce secretary\u00a0and Trump in\u00a0presuming that they\u00a0have the right to tell Canada who it should and shouldn\u2019t trade with.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
What sucks is the related presumption that because the U.S. has a $30-trillion economy, other countries must come to the\u00a0negotiating table on their terms.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Carney continues to handle the belligerence and dictatorial style of the Trump\u00a0administration in a solid and responsible way.\u00a0Although some Canadians might have wanted a more passionate response to Trump\u2019s insults and provocations, Carney has refused to get in a mudslinging contest with the Americans.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Instead, he has stuck to solid,\u00a0core principles, including his refusal to allow the U.S. to dictate the terms of the CUSMA negotiations.\u00a0The PM has made clear that he will not change domestic policies that the\u00a0Americans\u00a0don\u2019t like on supply management, bans on American\u00a0booze, and legislation like the Online Streaming and\u00a0Online News acts.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
That said, Canadians should brace themselves for possibly extreme measures from Trump.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Trump has already once broken off trade talks with Canada because of a TV ad he\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0like from Ontario Premier Doug Ford.\u00a0If Trump can\u2019t get his way in the upcoming talks, that might even mean, in the extreme, that the U.S.\u00a0president could walk away from the deal\u00a0altogether.<\/p>\n
But not everyone in the U.S. is a fan of insults and threats against Canada in the name of statecraft. Jeanne Shaheen,\u00a0a Senator from New Hampshire, recently rebuked Lutnick in no uncertain terms.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we have allies and partners, we should try and work with them\u2014not insult them.\u00a0And I find your rhetoric insulting to the people in my state who are working so hard to try and ensure that they can do business.\u201d<\/p>\n
With voices like Shaheen\u2019s, and two-thirds of Americans disapproving of Trump in the polls, there is reason to expect better days in Canada\u2019s relationship with its\u00a0muscle-bound neighbour.<\/p>\n
But until those\u00a0days arrive, Carney is on the right path.\u00a0Canada should be respectful of\u2014but not obsequious with\u2014the Trump\u00a0administration, while reaching out for new friends\u00a0in a world that is bigger than America.<\/p>\n
Michael Harris is an award-winning author, columnist, and journalist.<\/p>\n
The Hill Times <\/p>\n
\u00a0\n <\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/michael-harris.jpg\")
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