Everyone understood that a second Trump administration, one self-proclaimed to be free of guardrails, would deliver some insane and inane stuff. Got it. No problem. Covered in the price of admission. It is the creativity with which they deliver the “weird” that ceaselessly leaves jaws on the floor. The fact that people expect something crazed doesn’t mean we fail to be shocked.
Imagine a pre-inauguration meeting at which the aides gathered around the table come up with an idea: “Let’s infuriate Canadians!” And when others ask the inevitable “Why?” there’s no really good answer other than “Why not?”
Of all the things Donald Trump and his crew have done since the election, picking a fight with Canada is one of the real head-scratchers. Was someone threatened by Justin Trudeau’s good looks? (My ex-wife’s granny, at age 90, once nodded with a smile, “Yes, that’s a handsome fellar”) Whatever it was, nearly everyone would’ve presumed that it would pass, quickly. And yet here we are, day to day, hearing more about the “51 state,” canceled vacation plans, boos in national anthems, intense hockey games, and… tariffs. But as it turns out, we still don’t know the half of it. The Daily Beast uncovered a bizarre incident in which a Trump administration star – DHS Sec. Kristi Noem, trolled Canadians back in January, making news again now in March.
Only in Trump’s America could a South Dakotan governor – the Dakotas and Minnesota famously known for their polite nature, go after some of the world’s most famously polite people in Canada. Over nothing. But according to this report, that’s exactly what happened:
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has been criticized for a bizarre stunt during an official visit to the U.S.-Canada border. On a trip to Derby, Vermont, in January following the killing of a U.S. Border Patrol agent, Noem visited a library which is directly bisected by the border with Quebec.
Tell us she built a wall with books!! Please, even I would sign up for that one! Unfortunately not, they already had a border in the library – a cute one. Tape.
A line of black tape on the floor of a reading room of the Haskell Free Library and Opera House marks the spot where Derby ends, and Stanstead, Quebec, begins. Noem reportedly stepped up to the tape and said, with a grin, “U.S.A. No. 1,” and then crossed the line into Canada and said, “The 51st state.”
“She did it at least three times and was very clear in saying, ‘U.S.A. No. 1,’ and didn’t even say ‘Canada.’ Just, ‘The 51st state’,” said Deborah Bishop, the library’s executive director, who is Canadian, speaking to the Boston Globe.
Interesting. That’s a really fresh take if you are in third grade. But let’s give Sec. Noem some credit here. Usually when someone just wants to be an ass, they do it from afar. Not Noem, not someone in this administration. She walked right up to that line and – while in Canada, proclaimed herself to be in the “51st State.” No word on if she had been drinking. We do know that it might have been cool if there was a Mountie right there to arrest her for something. Maybe she failed to deliver the message in English and French, both languages being official in Canada and this was an official government act (Sort of). It would’ve worked well enough to at least put the focus back on the silly.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem Insulted Canadians in Bizarre Border Stunt https://t.co/l7WfnAR5ya
— Fernando Oliver, Esq. (@Fernand46357857) March 4, 2025
To get back to the main point, one truly wonders how we ever got here. Initially, most of us thought that Trump just wanted to troll people. In some strange way, many Trump-supporters seem to equate being a jackass with toughness or strength. “Because we can” seems to be a defining ethos for a few of them. Except it’s getting played over and over, to the point where the only real conclusion is that Trump remains half-serious about absorbing Canada into this country Soviet Union-style. He is already facing accusations of being more Russian than American. Maybe Canada would be Kazakhstan to America’s Politburo in Trump’s mind. It won’t happen… It especially won’t happen as the “51st state” stuff. Make the offer 10 new states and the Northern Territories join with Alaska (Greenland?) to form “Arctica” and perhaps that might be bandied about a bit… Of course, Democrats would likely never lose again. It won’t happen anyway.
Let’s revisit that meeting. Someone is going to have to explain what they expect to really gain from these stunts. Exactly what did Canada do to earn Noem’s “51st State” scorn? That is the other thing that the Trump administration can’t really answer. We are left to wonder, is Canada just that handsome?
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This is like the prequel to the movie Idiocracy, not as funny, but kinda funny. I know there are words we don’t use anymore because some groups of people found them hurtful, and words do hurt. So anyway, I think the term I’m looking for to describe these people who’ve taken over our country is developmentally impaired. But no small number of them are also emotionally impaired too, especially that guy Christopher Titus likes to call Sweet Potato Hitler.
Noem is a moron.