Donald Trump's malicious relationship with Canada
Over the decades, Canada-US relations have seen their ups and downs. During the 1960s, Canada greatly displeased the United States on several occasions by opposing American imperialist ambitions and by opening its borders to American resistance fighters. Nevertheless, relations between the two countries have never sank as low as with Donald Trump.
For a century, Canadians developed the idea that their country had a special relationship with the United States. We were almost part of the family. Usually, an American president made his first foreign visit to Canada. However, Trump deviated from this rule. Canadians then felt that he saw Canada as just a geographic region.
Canadians have traditionally been sensitive to the lack of attention the United States pays to its northern ally. They see this lack of attention as a kind of neglect, even contempt. But with President Trump, the situation is reversed. Canadians continue to feel victimized, but this time because of too much attention from the US President.
Since 2015, Trump has been rehashing populist rhetoric about the importance of making America great again.
In this rhetoric, Canada has become a big bad guy, a predatory nation that does not hesitate to rip off and take unfair advantage of poor Americans. According to him, NAFTA is Washington’s worst ever trade deal ever.
Very narcissistic, Trump is known for his dishonesty and bragging. A born bully, he does not hesitate to crush any individual or group he considers weak. To force Canada to sign a new deal on its terms, Trump was quick to evoke a 1960s national defense law, thus treating Canada as an enemy nation. In doing so, he imposed heavy tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum.
Even more, at the G7 summit held in La Malbaie in June 2018, he added to his frequent insults and distortions attacks against the Canadian Prime Minister. While declaring that no president had ever been treated so badly by Canada, one of his advisers went so far as to say that hell had a special place for Justin Trudeau. And finally in August 2018, Trump announced his willingness to teach Canada a good lesson by forcing it to submit.
In his relationship with Justin Trudeau, Trump has clearly behaved like a tyrant. Because the prime minister was courteous and polite, the president inferred that he was weak. He then resorted to intimidation, his preferred strategy. Trump accused Trudeau of being in bad faith simply because he rejected the American diktat.
From a broader perspective, it must be recognized that Canada was only added to its list of targets. Evaluating Canada-US bilateral relations only from a business perspective, calculating it in dollars and cents. He simply reacts as if this is a real estate transaction. His animosity towards Canada must first be seen through this narrow lens.
In addition, full of himself, he does not have good records of his files and does not read the reports prepared by his advisers. So the alleged US trade imbalance with Canada is just a figment of his imagination. The issue of dairy products, considered by Trump as a major issue in the negotiations, represents only 0.12%, barely a thousandth of bilateral trade between the two countries.
Canadians, despite large geographic variations, generally see themselves as a stoic, polite, rule-abiding, and collective-minded people. Very proud of their history, Canadians also see themselves as an autonomous country capable of defending its rights. Canada is the antithesis of a weak and fearful nation.
Trump's rhetoric may work with his supporters, but Canadians just don't take it. It awakened a strong anti-American sentiment in Canada. Despite his protests over his love of Canada, Trump is clearly seen as the first American president to be anti-Canadian.
The consequences are palpable. Canadians express deep revulsion against him in the polls. They reject both the individual and their policies. Some 92% think he is arrogant, 78% he is intolerant and 72% see him as dangerous. In contrast, only 16% believe he is qualified enough to assume the US presidency.
Similarly, 84% of Canadians reject his proposal to build a wall on the Mexican border; 78% disagree with his decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement and 64% oppose his decrees banning travelers from certain Muslim countries from entering the United States.
This strong antipathy towards Trump is echoed in how Canadians perceive Americans. The anti-American resentment of Canadians has never been greater in 50 years. The level of antipathy that was 35% under Obama has risen to 60% under Trump.
If 83% of Canadians said they trusted the US president under Obama, now only 22% do. Decidedly, Trump is also a polarizing figure in Canada, succeeding in largely rallying Canadians against him. A strong majority of Canadians now think Americans cannot be trusted. The backlash is such that it will take a long time to rebuild mutual trust.
