Other countries should take note on how a looming trade war between the US and its neighbors was (predictably) averted.
|
Listen To This Story
 |
Donald Trump and his Republican allies are celebrating the president’s “victory” over Canada and Mexico. However, the real winners are all of the countries who were given a blueprint for how to deal with a bully drunk on power.
On Monday morning, we predicted that the US’s looming trade war with its neighbors would end with Trump taking credit for forcing them into submission and his supporters falling all over themselves to praise him for his strong leadership.
That is exactly what happened a couple of hours after we published our article.
President Trump is not just the President of the United States.
It is clear for everyone to see he’s the leader of the free world.
Keep going, DJT. We are proud of you.
— Congressman Troy E. Nehls (@RepTroyNehls) February 4, 2025
However, the reality looks quite different.
The leaders of both countries talked to Trump and made some “concessions” that were either relatively meaningless, window dressing, or already in the works.
I just had a good call with President Trump. Canada is implementing our $1.3 billion border plan — reinforcing the border with new choppers, technology and personnel, enhanced coordination with our American partners, and increased resources to stop the flow of fentanyl. Nearly…
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) February 3, 2025
If you look at Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s tweet, you will see that he uses words like “implementing” an existing plan and also says that the border personnel are already in place.
And then he makes new promises like the appointment of a “Fentanyl Czar.”
In response, the US president immediately agreed to suspend the 25 percent tariffs that were supposed to go into effect on Tuesday.
In the end, everybody won.
Trump got to pretend to be a master negotiator and received the adulation he craves; Republican lawmakers got to ingratiate themselves without the president causing too much damage to the country; Americans, Canadians, and Mexicans did not have to suffer through a pointless trade war and the ensuing price increases; and everybody else got to take notes on how to deal with a US president who cares more about looking like a winner than anything else.
And, just in case anybody missed that lesson, here is how:
Step 1: Trump singles out an “enemy” who is taking advantage of the US in some way. This doesn’t have to make any sense whatsoever. For example, let’s say that he is upset that Mongolia is overfishing carp in the Gulf of America and threatens a 100 percent tariff on all Mongolian goods (it doesn’t matter that Mongolia is a landlocked Asian country and that carp is a freshwater fish).
Step 2: Republicans celebrate this tariff as a political masterstroke and emphasize that Mongolia has taken advantage of the US for far too long.
Step 3: Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh picks up the phone, calls Trump, promises to appoint a Carp Czar and to order all Mongolian deep sea fishing vessels to stay out of the Gulf of America.
Step 4: Trump composes a Truth Social post saying that Mongolia has caved.
Step 5: Fox News interrupts its regular pro-Trump programming to run a special report on the president winning yet another trade war.
Of course, in the end, all of this will leave the US more isolated on the global stage. Then again, that might just be what the “America First” crowd wants.
In his Navigating the Insanity columns, Klaus Marre provides the kind of hard-hitting, thought-provoking, and often humorous analysis you won’t find anywhere else.
