TORONTO – The prelude to the “economic warfare with the USA (Trump) is not over yet. The State of the Union Address tonight and the consequent fallout may determine how serious Trump may be or how resolute his commitment to put Americans ahead of any international obligations – real, implicit or implied – that make peace and harmony viable alternatives to street-gang ethics.

I take for granted that our own government, the one that our lame duck Prime Minister abdicated two months ago, has been sharpening its tools in respect of what is “doable” and what it is prepared to implement to cushion the blows in a pan-Canadian response. I hesitate because our leadership has been behaving like cats out of a bag. 

Their response must surely have delighted Trump’s advisors. The most aggravated are the fans of a sport that long ago turned itself into an on-going spectacle of ‘baboons on blades’ : arguably the most iconic figure of the once glorious sport of hockey, Wayne Gretzky, has become the villain in the tariff-no tariff debate; and he has not said a word.

My guess is that we Canadians have forgotten to whom an elected President of the USA is accountable. Clue: it is not us. Besides, his tactics resulted – in short order – in the resignation from office of our own Prime Minister; the reassessment of our CBSA  goals, strategies and expenditures; reassessment of our immigration policies; expenditure plans for armed forces; expenditures for distribution of Fentanyl and other narcotics … Now tell Trump his tactics do not render results.

Trump has turned Diplomacy (process) and Deference (respect for what it takes to don the mantle of responsibility) on their head. Justin Trudeau did the same when he came to power, but called the process “sunny ways”. In both cases, the leader is toxic to “the system” except that the latter is on the way out and the former is on his way in.

That did not stop, nor should it, an MSN anchor on a podcast from delivering a no-holds barred criticism of the president for his performance with world leaders, whom he hosted in the White House, in the last week. For him, Trump is uneducable and suffers the public humiliation of the Presidential chair/office much too easily and too often. His analysis of the presidential gravitas suggests that Trump’s inability to project positivity will be the biggest burden that the USA may have to shoulder in these next four years. We don’t fit in his equation.

Does Trump care? Does it matter? He is the card-dealer and this is his game. Maybe it is all a set up for the State of the Union address, when the world will find out what the real game plan may be. Somehow, no tangible leadership has emerged from our Team Canada or than the doubling down on [necessary] retaliation.  

In the pic below, President Donald Trump during the signing of one of his Presidential Orders at the White House (from Twitter X – @WhiteHouse)