\u2014 from Robert Reich’s Substack<\/a><\/i><\/b> <\/p>\n Friends,<\/p>\n What do bullies do when someone stands up to their bullying and punches them in the face? They look for someone weaker to bully who won\u2019t punch back.<\/p>\n Presumably that\u2019s why Donald Trump has now taken on Canada, after Iran punched back so hard in the cage match the U.S. president began more than six months ago as to leave him humiliated and baffled.<\/p>\n Trump wants to be the bully who humiliates others and forces them into submission. Needing to assert his dominance, Trump has now started a trade war with our northern neighbor, friend, second-largest trading partner (after Mexico), and, at least until now, reliable ally.<\/p>\n He\u2019s hammering Canada on his Truth Social and in media appearances, saying Canada has \u201cripped off\u201d the U.S. for years, and signing an absurd order to rename Lake Ontario \u201cLake America.\u201d<\/p>\n This is pure bunk, of course \u2014 more empty Trump bravado and ignorant belligerence. Canada?<\/em> Really? If Mel Brooks were still making movies, this would be a comedy. But as all else with Trump, it\u2019s no laughing matter.<\/p>\n Trump apparently assumed that Canada would quickly surrender because it has more to lose. The tariffs Trump has imposed on Canada \u2014 along with those he\u2019s threatening if Canada retaliates \u2014 affect a tiny portion of America\u2019s total imports but a huge portion of Canada\u2019s total exports.<\/p>\n Jamieson Greer, Trump\u2019s U.S. trade representative, says<\/a> the duties are too small to pose a problem for the U.S. and are \u201cmore [Canada\u2019s] emergency than ours.\u201d<\/p>\n But bullies like Trump rarely think about the effects of their bullying on the thinking and attitudes of their targets.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s bullying of Iran has not only reinforced its hardline regime but shown them that control over the Strait of Hormuz is an effective means of gaining concessions from other Gulf states as well as the U.S., and likely strengthened their resolve to build a nuclear weapon.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s bullying of Canada, meanwhile, is igniting a patriotism that has often eluded that nation, which separatist factions have long threatened to pull apart.<\/p>\n Mark Carney\u2019s decision to stand up to Trump \u2014 through \u201cdollar for dollar\u201d retaliation on goods coming from key industries in states including Ohio and Texas with competitive Senate elections \u2014 has led to a surge of support for the prime minister\u2019s Liberal Party. Liberals won<\/a> three special by-elections on Monday.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s trade war with Canada has also dimmed the prospects of Canada\u2019s separatist movements, at least in the short term. A candidate from Carney\u2019s Liberal Party edged out a Quebec separatist in one of Monday\u2019s special by-elections, in a district hit hard by U.S. tariffs.<\/p>\n This is a good omen for Canada ahead of October 5th\u2019s vote in Quebec on whether the province\u2019s secessionist party, Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois, gains additional seats in the province\u2019s legislative body, and October 19th\u2019s vote in Alberta on whether to hold a referendum to secede from the rest of Canada.<\/p>\n Trump may also have underestimated the negative reactions to his trade war at home. According to a new Reuters\/Ipsos poll<\/a>, 57percent of Americans \u200coppose Trump\u2019s moves to impose tariffs on Canadian imports. About 63 percent oppose his peevish order to rename Lake Ontario \u201cLake America.\u201d Only 20 percent support the higher tariffs on Canadian goods.<\/p>\n The negative response is especially pronounced in U.S. border states whose economies are tightly interconnected with Canada.<\/p>\n In Michigan, for example, where overwhelming majorities oppose<\/a> Trump\u2019s tariffs on Canada, Democrats have launched new attack ads on the Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers for refusing to denounce the tariffs. The Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed called Trump an \u201casshole\u201d<\/a> for launching the trade war.<\/p>\n There\u2019s still time for the U.S. and Canada to avoid the worst of the economic and political fallout from this. Carney\u2019s \u201cdollar for dollar\u201d retaliation goes into effect on September 8, but Trump\u2019s counter-counter measure \u2014 threatened 50 percent tariffs on autos and auto parts \u2014 won\u2019t go into effect until New Year\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n Still, no one should expect an easy resolution to what may go down in history as the stupidest of all the stupid foreign policies Trump has initiated. And given the extent of Trump\u2019s dumb international moves, that is saying something.![\"\"](\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Canada-Donald-Trump.jpg?w=681&h=383&crop=1\")
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