I have to tell you, this took longer than I thought it would. And that tells me that the Trump White House is even more disorganized and non responsive to events taking place in the world than you even want to know about. Last night we posted a piece here on the sobering economic address which Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney made. I was expecting Trump to begin roaring in the wee hours on Truth Social. Nada. Bupkis. Rein du toute. So I thought, “C’mon man, Trump has to know about this. He can’t not know about it.” Maybe Susie or somebody decided to tell him about the address. In all events, Trump got it conflated with something else running in Canada regarding tariffs and here is the Child in Chief unilaterally and instantaneously terminating all trade negotiations — in screaming all-caps.
This is from the Ronald Reagan Library
It's what he said https://t.co/fCEIaxD7jy
— cliff wardle (@winemaker1960) October 24, 2025
According to Politico, “China’s embassy in Washington notably used the same Reagan clip to troll Trump’s global tariffs when the China-U.S. trade war heated up in the spring.” That quote is from October 16.
The plain and simple truth is that Trump is tuned out. He does not KNOW the status of economic relationships with our allies — or our adversaries — because it’s too far over his head, plus he doesn’t do anything but play golf. He doesn’t even bother to make the effort. At least in Trump 1.0, he had people around him reduce things to pictures and bullet point presidentations to try to distill down basic concepts for him.
It was ludicrous. Back in the day those conferences were described as “Like the Eddie Murphy movie, “Trading Places” where the two hotshot financiers show the Murphy character a BLT and try to explain commodities to him.” In an Eddie Murphy comedy it was a howlingly funny scene. In the White House? With a sitting president? OMFG.
— Carolyn from Maryland (@carolyn_from) October 24, 2025
Thin skinned, stupid and he’s got the facts wrong. Mark Carney’s address is one thing. The video clip using Reagan’s opinions on tariffs is another thing. The cost of the freaking ad is simply irrelevant. Why he even throws that in is beyond me. And his conclusion, of proclaiming that now, eureka, this very moment ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED is simply not how it works. (She said, resisting an urge to bang her head on the floor and keep banging it.)
But Trump bee-leaves that governance by tweet is a real thing. So he’s saying in his post that because Canada was mean, “their egregious behavior” he’s going to show them and we’re not going to play ball anymore. Trump told them, in no uncertain terms, he’s picking up his marbles and going home. Whatever the hell that might actually mean.
The ad is not the real issue but I’m sure that the fact that it’s a Reagan audio clip is the only part of it that Trump can even begin to comprehend. That’s the problem. Mark Carney’s speech and what the government of Canada proposes to do in the long term is the issue here. Trump can’t address the issue because he’s simply too ignorant and lacking in either the economic or intellectual acumen to sit down and school himself on all the facts necessary to get the big picture — and then make a decision, like every real president in the past 249 years presented with an issue of this magnitude.
What happened with Mark Carney’s speech last night is a landmark. Yes. It is a big deal. Our staunchest ally just jumped economic ship and that doesn’t happen every day. And that’s what Trump is emotionally reacting to, without naming the incident. At least that’s the only thing that makes sense to me. Because that Reagan clip has been out in the world for a week and a half now, being used by both the Canadians and Chinese to make a point. Why “terminate” all relations with Canada — unless Susie Wiles or somebody informed him that Prime Minister Carney had told his nation in a speech that the era of economic growth with the U.S. has come to an end?
The big orange ego can’t handle rejection. That’s what’s going on. And in the real world, I guess that Scott Bessent or somebody who grasps these issues (I don’t think it will be the Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, although it is his job) will do something with Canada, because Trump is so clueless. Lutnick may have the job of dealing with international trade but he’s another talking head. He’s too busy talking about how his millionaire grandmother wouldn’t say anything about a missing Social Security check, and such like, and not working on some long range strategy with our ally to the north.
And if the Sunday news and politics shows were worth a damn, this entire issue here would be highlighted this weekend. I don’t know about you, but I’m not holding my breath. Point being, major developments are happening right and left in Washington — but Trump’s priority is his ballroom. Even Chuck Schumer said today, “You can’t make this shit up,” as reported by Meidas Touch.
Prime Minister Carney made a speech.
Ontario, a province of Canada (one of ten), made a commercial with the Regan clip.
Can you see the difference here?