It’s been over 200 years now since the War of 1812, the last time that the Canadians and the Americans were on different sides of an issue. But here we are in the Age Of Trump, back to that kind of a situation. I don’t expect the Canadians to torch the White House (although, hey, the year is young) but it is foreseeable that damage and global realignments are now taking place in Trump 2.0 that will take decades to repair and that’s being optimistic to think that they can be repaired at all. Here is Mark Carney laying it on the line.
🇺🇸🇨🇦
US no longer a reliable partner, old relationship is over, says Canadian PM Carney
Relations between Canada and the US have not been this bad since the 19th century. pic.twitter.com/HY8QSfBTZx
— 𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐊𝐎𝐌𝐒𝐀 | 🇪🇺🇫🇷🇵🇱🇺🇦 (@tweet4Anna_NAFO) April 12, 2025
Baby Donald will not be happy when he hears this. He goes on interminably about how we don’t need Canada for this and we don’t need Canada for that. What Trump fails to understand is that the world economy is in many ways like a jenga tower. You start pulling out pieces and rearranging things, eventually it comes tumbling over.
The difference between Trump and Canadians is that the Canadians aren’t bluffing. They’re not cosplaying. They will say what they’ll do and then do what they say. That’s a lesson Donald might try to learn sometime. It’s called being a responsible adult.
Trump is busy gaming the stock market and playing with the world economy so he and Elon and the other billionaire bros can hit it rich in the short term. Part of the reason is that Trump is incapable of a long range picture. He’s always dealt with novelty and the impulse of the moment.
The plain fact of the matter is that Trump could abdicate America’s stature in the world and do this until 2026, when a midterm election could cause him to be stonewalled for the last two years of his term. But plenty of irreparable harm can be done in two years. Look at what has happened in less than 90 days?
And then it’s anybody’s guess what global realignments or realliances can be achieved in a post-Trump era. This is all speculation at this point because nobody knows or can even guess the true nature and extent of the damage that Trump will wreak.
Bull in a china shop doesn’t even begin to cover it. And if you ask anybody in his misadministration for detail, all you get is “Trust Trump.” That’s the mantra. Pure QAnon, 4Chan, conspiracy theory level stuff. Trust Trump, trust the plan. (Pssst: there is no plan, never has been.)
“It’s been over 200 years now since the War of 1812, the last time that the Canadians and the Americans were on different sides of an issue.”
I’d say there have been a few cases since then that Canada and the US were on different sides. For instance, during the Civil War. The official stance was that of neutrality, especially as William Seward (yes, he of the Alaska Purchase/”Seward’s Folly” fame) had spoken of annexing Canada on several occasions and while the bigwigs in London (Canada was still a full British possession at this time and wouldn’t obtain any real degree of self-government until 1867) spoke of recognizing the Confederacy, the Union would regard this as an act of war. There were also a number of Canadians who were sympathetic with the Confederacy (although there was little support for slavery.
Another case was the Fenian raids that happened just after the Civil War. A group of Irish republicans (based in the US) actually managed to invade Canada in an attempt to use the territory as leverage to get Britain out of Ireland. And many Canadians (officials and civilians alike) believed the US didn’t do enough to stop the raiders as payback for Canada’s neutral stance during the Civil War.
Then, there was the First World War. Canada entered along with the rest of the British Empire at the start of the was and a lot of Canadians resented the fact that the US was remaining neutral and, seemingly, profiting from the war. (After the US entered the war, the resentment turned into cooperation but you’re still looking at nearly 3 years of antagonism.)
During the Vietnam War, Canada allowed draft evaders to enter Canada as formal immigrants, even allowing the potential for them to become Canadian citizens. (The US didn’t take any significant action against Canada–unlike the reaction directed at Sweden for its policies on accepting draft evaders–but a lot of “ordinary” Americans weren’t thrilled with Canada.)
And there were a number of trade issues through the years including the imposition of tariffs against Canada (such as 1930’s Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act and the “Nixon Shock” of 1971 which raised tariffs across the board but hit Canada especially hard with Nixon going so far as to proclaim in 1972 that the US-Canada “special arrangement” was dead).
Here’s the true quiet part said out as loud as I can: the USA will NEVER repair its relationships with its allies post-Trump. Those other countries will NEVER trust the USA not to elect another sociopathic oligarch again.