Trump was supremely pleased with himself (but that's not news) when he announced his intention to crank up U.S. inflation and screw with the world economy by imposing unneeded tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China. His diabolical plan was so stupid, he later added the European Union to his list of Trumpian imbecilities.
He then acted, for he is a dimwit of action. While the EU remains in the offing — but not for long — he did impose 25% tariffs on our neighbors, plus an additional 10% tax on China. The latter has answered his call by upping the ante with additional tariffs on U.S. coal, natural gas, crude oil, farming equipment and minerals "critical" to American high tech.
This is how tariffs proceed: spiraling retaliations. Just ask Smoot & Hawley.
Yet Trump postponed enacting his genius for stupidity against Mexico and Canada, for they acted as well. Sort of. Or not really. Mexico bamboozled him by promising to increase border security to staunch the flow of illegal crossings and to get tougher on seizing fentanyl while also destroying its manufacturing labs — Trump's chief demands. President Claudia Sheinbaum's bamboozlement? She had already enforced greater border security — crossings have plunged — and Mexico's law enforcement agencies had already seized huge tranches of fetanyl and shut down its labs.
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau thought he should have a little fun with Trump too. To stave off the mad king's tariffs he took to social media — called "the president's daily briefing" in the White House — and announced all the aggressive actions he is oh-so serious about taking so that Trump can be mollified, which he was:
Nearly 10,000 frontline personnel are and will be working on protecting the border. In addition, Canada is making new commitments to appoint a Fentanyl Czar, we will list cartels as terrorists, ensure 24/7 eyes on the border, launch a Canada- U.S. Joint Strike Force to combat organized crime, fentanyl and money laundering. I have also signed a new intelligence directive on organized crime and fentanyl and we will be backing it with $200 million.
One note about Trudeau's crackdowns. They had nothing to do with what Trump had demanded the prime minister do, for one simple reason: Like Mexico's president, the prime minister of Canada had already done them. America's top-elected toothless bully had been hoodwinked again. That, or he knew Trudeau's mollifying was only an exercise in the redundant but went along with the ruse anyway — an outright molestation of his blabber about "truth-telling" to the American people.
Whichever the case, Trump has invited howls of laughter upon his miserable person by making U.S. "leadership" look ridiculous and exceedingly dumb, which it is. What follows is a sampling of the guffaws, forwarded to me by a giggling Canadian friend.
"FACT CHECK: Canada has already announced this plan BEFORE Trump announced his tariffs," wrote an amused Phil Williams, a WTVF-TV reporter.
"We announced the $1.3 billion in december, lol," chortled Canadian journalist Jordan Heath-Rawlings.
"Trump got played again, Canada already has 8,500 frontline personnel at the border," noted Mehdi Hasan, a former MSNBC host.
"LOL Canada gave our felonious, imbecilic president ice in the winter and he took it," chuckled George Conway, conservative and co-founder of the Lincoln Project.
Former CBS News and AP reporter Sam Litzinger snickered, "Trump is folding folding like a bad poker player..."
And the dean of Columbia Journalism School, Bill Grueskin, had a grand time writing "The phone call tonight between Sheinbaum and Trudeau will be amazing." To clarify he added a picture of President Obama "doubled over laughing alongside" his then-secretary of state, Hillary Clinton.
Such notable guffaws are coming from both sides of the border. But think not that this is only a two-nation laughfest. Be assured, rather, that the entire world is laughing at Trump. The would-be emperor again stands naked as an object of derision. After all, he earned it.
I'm more worried about why no one is stopping Elon and his band of Hitler Youth boys raiding the Treasury than I am about tariffs right now. I hope Canada annexed the whole U.S. west coast.
I am 73 years old.
I vowed to myself that I will not die with Trump in power.
It's better than that. Many Canadian provinces have blocked sales of US alcoholic beverages in Canadian stores. Other retaliatory moves are already lined up--moves specifically targeted at Red states and Trump's cronies.