Trump's Insane Rant about Canada

Today I am going to return to a frequent theme of this blog. Cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump is cognitively impaired and unfit for his job. He is making nonsensical decisions that are harming the interests of the United States. The band of enablers that surrounds him will do nothing. Neither will the do-nothing Republican-led Congress that is content to lick Trump's boots. Even the media cleans up Trump's lunatic ravings and presents a false image that does not convey the depths of Trump's mental impairment. Nevertheless, the fact that Trump's brain is mush is obvious to anyone who pays attention. If further evidence were needed, Trump provided that yesterday with an insane rant on his Truth Social social media network.

Yesterday evening, for reasons that likely only he knows, Trump got a bug in his bonnet about Canada. Trump has been fixated on Canada a lot lately. At times suggesting that it should become the 51st state, at other times threatening crippling tariffs, and, more recently, demonstrating his anger that Canada has negotiated a trade deal with China. But, seemingly out of nowhere, Trump "truthed" the following yesterday evening:

As everyone knows, the Country of Canada has treated the United States very unfairly for decades. Now, things are turning around for the U.S.A., and FAST! But imagine, Canada is building a massive bridge between Ontario and Michigan. They own both the Canada and the United States side and, of course, built it with virtually no U.S. content. President Barack Hussein Obama stupidly gave them a waiver so they could get around the BUY AMERICAN Act, and not use any American products, including our Steel. Now, the Canadian Government expects me, as President of the United States, to PERMIT them to just “take advantage of America!” What does the United States of America get — Absolutely NOTHING! Ontario won't even put U.S. spirits, beverages, and other alcoholic products, on their shelves, they are absolutely prohibited from doing so and now, on top of everything else, Prime Minister Carney wants to make a deal with China — which will eat Canada alive. We’ll just get the leftovers! I don't think so. The first thing China will do is terminate ALL Ice Hockey being played in Canada, and permanently eliminate The Stanley Cup. The Tariffs Canada charges us for our Dairy products have, for many years, been unacceptable, putting our Farmers at great financial risk. I will not allow this bridge to open until the United States is fully compensated for everything we have given them, and also, importantly, Canada treats the United States with the Fairness and Respect that we deserve. We will start negotiations, IMMEDIATELY. With all that we have given them, we should own, perhaps, at least one half of this asset. The revenues generated because of the U.S. Market will be astronomical. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP

To put things in scientific terms, the President is bonkers. This post is completely unmoored from reality. Before getting to the specifics of the bridge, let's start with hockey. I have repeatedly documented Trump's tendency to fixate on a particular word or topic. This characteristic, which is common in those suffering from dementia, has been demonstrated by Trump's obsession with the word "groceries." Trump considers "groceries" to be an "old fashioned word" and is frequently compelled to define the word for those listening. Trump has become similarly fixated on the idea that China will somehow bring an end to hockey in Canada.

In mid-January, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney visited Beijing, China, and announced a trade deal between the two countries. This was very clearly a reaction to tariffs that Trump has arbitrarily placed on Canada. Trump responded angrily, threatening even more tariffs. However, on January 29, Trump threw in a new wrinkle and claimed that the first thing China would do would be to "say you're not allowed to play ice hockey anymore." Trump provided no information about how he expected China to impose such a restriction, especially in the context of a simple trade agreement. Trump returned to the same idea on February 1, saying that if Canada made a deal with China, China would take over Canada and "the first thing they’re going to do is end ice hockey." Therefore, it probably shouldn't be a surprise that, in his latest rant, Trump would again bring up hockey, saying "The first thing China will do is terminate ALL Ice Hockey being played in Canada, and permanently eliminate The Stanley Cup." Factually speaking, the Stanley Cup has already been eliminated from Canada for the past three decades. But that is due to the quality of U.S. teams rather than China. However, once again, Trump gave no clue about how he expects a trade deal to result in China terminating "ALL Ice Hockey" in Canada. China hasn't even eliminated hockey in China.

The bottom line here is that the U.S. has a leader who is spouting complete rubbish. It is an embarrassment, and we shouldn't have to tolerate it. Nobody believes that China is a threat to hockey in Canada. Not only is Trump fear-mongering, he is doing it in a manner that makes himself look foolish and the U.S. appear moronic by association. Consider the reaction of HockeyFeed, a Canada-based hockey-focused website. An article about Trump's post began, "Another day, another distraction from The Epstein Files and his unmitigated disaster of an administration for American Commander in Chief Donald Trump." The article would later ask, "Where to even begin with this clown?" and note that Trump "is mentioned over 5,300 times in The Epstein Files btw". Not only is Trump being ridiculed abroad, he is providing an opportunity for even Canadian hockey fans to discuss his connections to sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

As for the bridge itself, Trump's post provides a series of misrepresentations. The bridge, which runs between Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, Michigan, was entirely funded by Canada. It is true that former President Barack Obama provided a waiver to the buy-America requirements that would have stipulated that U.S.-made steel and iron be used for the project, but the waiver restricted steel and iron purchases to products produced in the United States and Canada. It was reasonably thought that since Canada was paying for the steel and iron, the country should be able to purchase its own products in addition to those produced in the United States. In the end, U.S.-made steel and iron were used in parts of the project. Trump is also wrong about the ownership of the bridge. The structure is jointly owned by the state of Michigan and the government of Canada. Moreover, during his first term, Trump supported the bridge project.

It is not clear under what legal authority Trump could stop the bridge from opening, which it has been expected to do within months. It is also not clear what Trump is expecting in return other than some incoherent ranting about being "fully compensated for everything we have given them". The bridge is named the "Gordie Howe International Bridge," after the Canadian hockey star who played for the Detroit Red Wings. Perhaps Trump would be ameliorated if the name were changed to the "Trump International Bridge?" Frankly, it would be better to keep it closed.

What is happening here is fairly obvious. From the beginning of his second term, Trump has attempted to bully and intimidate Canada. Canadians have been infuriated by the manner in which they have been treated and have taken retaliatory measures. One of those was to stop sales of U.S.-made spirits in many places, something that Trump mentioned in his rant. Trump is complaining about something that was instigated by his own actions. Similarly, Trump cited the "Tariffs Canada charges us for our Dairy products" in his diatribe. However, those tariffs were negotiated by Trump himself as part of the USMCA trade agreement. Trump brags about his ability to make deals, but apparently now doesn't like his own deal.

Carney warned at the recent World Economic Summit in Davos, Switzerland, that Canada's economic integration with the United States was being weaponized against his country and, therefore, Canada would be forced to look elsewhere for its economic opportunities. It should come as no surprise then that Canada and China reached mutual agreement on trade. This is all a result of Trump's own belligerence. Now Trump is childishly reacting to the results of his own behavior.

It is always difficult, if not impossible, to know what motivates Trump. Often his behavior is dependent on with whom he last talked. In the case of the Gordie Howe International Bridge, there is a possible clue. There is a privately owned bridge already connecting Detroit and Windsor that is owned by the Maroun family. During Trump's first term, he was strenuously lobbied by Manuel Moroun to prevent the competing bridge from being built. Manuel Moroun has since passed away, and his son Matthew is now in charge. The Morouns fear that the opening of the Gordie Howe bridge will put their bridge out of business. There is no indication that Matthew Maroun has recently been in touch with Trump, but given the family's past lobbying of Trump and Trump's affection for billionaires, it would not be surprising.

Trump's interference with the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge would be harmful to the interests of the United States. The bridge will economically benefit Michigan and other U.S. states. It will provide more convenient traffic to and from Canada with better access to highways. Also, given that the existing Maroun-owned bridge is in poor condition, the new bridge will be safer. Trump's complaints are entirely of his own making. There is nothing rational about his latest threats. He has truly deteriorated to an old man yelling at clouds.