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Trump administration 2024-2028


Ford threatens to cut off energy exports from Ontario.
While jacking up rates is a card both ON and QC could play, that’s a bold stance.

Maybe someone could be quietly telling the US about all those Canadian-made bits of bigger machines (cars for ON, planes for QC) built in America that could be at risk in a trade war?
Seriously ?
The big problem with mud wrestling with a pig is that the pig enjoys it
Seeing the exchanges via another dynamic, someone has to stand up to the bully eventually. Mind you, risking getting kicked in the moors, though. Interesting to see where this bit goes.
 
While jacking up rates is a card both ON and QC could play, that’s a bold stance.

Maybe someone could be quietly telling the US about all those Canadian-made bits of bigger machines (cars for ON, planes for QC) built in America that could be at risk in a trade war?

Seeing the exchanges via another dynamic, someone has to stand up to the bully eventually. Mind you, risking getting kicked in the moors, though. Interesting to see where this bit goes.
Surprised the automakers et al haven't had words already.
 
Off with their (crazy dyed hair tattooed face ) heads! ;)

Military Leaders Are Rattled by a List of 'Woke' Officers That a Group Urges Hegseth to Fire​


Military leaders are rattled by a list of “woke” senior officers that a conservative group urged Pete Hegseth to dismiss for promoting diversity in the ranks if he is confirmed to lead the Pentagon.

The list compiled by the American Accountability Foundation includes 20 general officers or senior admirals and a disproportionate number of female officers. It has had a chilling effect on the Pentagon’s often frank discussions as leaders try to figure out how to address the potential firings and diversity issues under President-elect Donald Trump.

 
Off with their (crazy dyed hair tattooed face ) heads! ;)

Military Leaders Are Rattled by a List of 'Woke' Officers That a Group Urges Hegseth to Fire​


Military leaders are rattled by a list of “woke” senior officers that a conservative group urged Pete Hegseth to dismiss for promoting diversity in the ranks if he is confirmed to lead the Pentagon.

The list compiled by the American Accountability Foundation includes 20 general officers or senior admirals and a disproportionate number of female officers. It has had a chilling effect on the Pentagon’s often frank discussions as leaders try to figure out how to address the potential firings and diversity issues under President-elect Donald Trump.

So, a commander could be ordered to promote DEI consultation, etc during the Biden administration or get punished, and then face getting punished under the Trump admin due to said DEI consultation…

Confused Trailer Park Boys GIF
 
While jacking up rates is a card both ON and QC could play, that’s a bold stance.

Maybe someone could be quietly telling the US about all those Canadian-made bits of bigger machines (cars for ON, planes for QC) built in America that could be at risk in a trade war?

Seeing the exchanges via another dynamic, someone has to stand up to the bully eventually. Mind you, risking getting kicked in the moors, though. Interesting to see where this bit goes.

One province threatening to cut energy supply, and another offering to drill baby drill.

I’m guessing Ford’s approach is the wrong one, considering the personality down south. Trump always tries to counterpunch harder. The tariffs are the counter punch to a lax Canadian security/border/immigration stance. Going tit for tat against your largest trading partner that dwarfs you is a losing prospect.

Canada can hold America over the barrel on anything at all?
 

This article didn't even mention water, which is managed through treaties, but $400+ billion annually of other stuff sounds pretty important:

As Trump vows major tariff hike, a look at what the U.S. imports from Canada​






 
This article didn't even mention water, which is managed through treaties, but $400+ billion annually of other stuff sounds pretty important:

As Trump vows major tariff hike, a look at what the U.S. imports from Canada​






Wonder how Boeing would take dealing with way-more-expensive bits for planes coming from Canada, or even stooped as a worst case? Same could apply to auto in Ontario, but in both cases, bit of suffering @ our end too.
 
Good article below. Though I find the comments section at NRO to be quite entertaining. I've copied one particular comment below, which I think is insightful.



Comment:

He should be in better shape than he was in 2016. If nothing else, he seems to have learned that he actually has to staff his administration beyond the cabinet level, rather than try to govern via twitter.

But there's a second point that somehow gets neglected in most recitations of Trump's first term woes. Trump had run an insurrection against the Republican establishment and effected what was essentially a hostile takeover. That wasn't just Trump. There was an anti-establishment mood of rebellion in the air, as Obama's arrogance and overreach was beginning to turn sour. Bernie Sanders was doing the same thing on the other side -- populists vs. the establishment -- and IMHO, Sanders would likely have beaten Hillary had the DNC not rigged the game.

It's ancient history, but Trump was largely isolated in the GOP to begin with, and he had run ugly in the primaries. He did not have much of a reservoir of support on the Hill or among the Republican old hands. That could have been managed, as the Old Guard would have muttered something about making the best of a mistake and helping Trump as best they could. But the democrats were running the Steele Dossier/Russiagate hoax, and that turned into the most effective disinformation campaign in U.S. political history. "Soft coup" is not too strong a term.

The point is, just at the point at which the GOP should have rallied around the president-elect and began to figure out how to help the newbie get up to speed, senior Obama DOJ and FBI officials were illegally leaking Hillary Clinton's sordid little hit piece all over Washington. The FISA Court had been told that the Steele Dossier was verified information -- an outright lie and a fraud on the Court -- and the Court had authorized an investigation, including electronic surveillance. The Comey-Clapper-Brennan cabal was meeting top Members of Congress, conveying the same lie. Senior Republicans -- the graybeards who might have helped Trump avoid so many of his unforced errors, were being briefed by senior FBI, DOJ and IC officials that all the stuff about Trump was true. Jeff Sessions had been tapped for Attorney General, but he was induced to recuse himself for what we now see, in retrospect, as utterly absurd conflict of interest accusations. Sessions was an old-school gentleman who never imagined that senior law enforcement and intelligence professionals, people he had known, worked with and trusted for years, were lying to his face. Sessions recused himself and left the Obama holdovers at DOJ in place to run the Trump probes, and they spent the next two years poisoning the well.

Of course Trump was isolated. He knew the Steele Dossier was not true and that he was not a tool of Vladimir Putin, but he was just about the only man in Washington who knew he was innocent. Back in those days, the Gang of Eight on the Hill never imagined that the FBI, DOJ and IC would lie to them in secret session.

"Soft coup" is not too strong a term. Somehow Trump brazened it out, but his administration was crippled before it even started. Two years into Trump's first term, Obama holdovers were still in place as Actings in far too many places across the agencies. To effect change now, Trump needs to fully staff his administration, with the subcabinet fully in place and the small army of Schedule C's embedded at the working levels of the agencies. Trump at least seems to understand that now.

I do not have a high level of confidence that he will pick the best people for the job, but at least he knows that a twitter account can't substitute for having his own people in place.
 
Another good analysis at NRO.


On the menu today: It’s Donald Trump’s world, we’re just living in it, and everyone must decide for themselves how they’re going to adjust to the once and future president. French president Emmanuel Macron, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin offer starkly different examples of how to respond to the impending second term of Trump.

Most human beings like being praised and don’t like being criticized. The president-elect is no different.
French president Emmanuel Macron gets it. He extended the invitation to the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral and literally warmly embraced Trump upon his arrival at Élysée Palace, telling Trump, “It’s a great honor for French people to welcome you five years later. Welcome back again.”


- France gets it.

Do you think Trump likes being told that he’s one of perhaps two forces in the world that can intimidate Vladimir Putin? Yeah, I think so, too. (By the way, did you notice that in his meeting with Zelensky, Trump wore a blue suit and yellow tie, the colors of Ukraine? Maybe that’s sartorial coincidence. Maybe not.)
For those who think the Ukrainians are dreading the return of Trump, the sense in many Ukrainian circles is that the Biden administration’s various restrictions and slow walking of arms has made Joe Biden a frustrating and contradictory ally, while Trump will be, if nothing else, clear and decisive. After the U.S. presidential election, one Ukrainian independent media group concluded of national security adviser Jake Sullivan, “The best news for today is that this person will no longer be in power. Sullivan did everything he could not to respond to Russia’s aggression in 2014 under Obama with his peacemaking policy. In 2022-2024 under him, Russia maintained its impunity. Farewell, we will not miss you!”
Sullivan’s incoming replacement, Florida congressman Mike Waltz, combines a clear-eyed view of Russian aggression with realistic expectation that our European allies, by virtue of their geographic proximity to Ukraine and fiscal resources, must step up and take a larger role.


- oh, not so bad for Ukraine after all??


Now, it’s not surprising that leaders on the left generally prefer other leaders on the left, and no doubt, Trudeau would have preferred to be working with a President-elect Kamala Harris. But that statement reads like an endorsement of Harris, a month after she lost the election. Who does it help and what good does it do? Sure, maybe it makes Trudeau and the feminists in the audience feel better to sneer that Trump’s election was a setback for women’s rights. But do you think Trudeau’s comment makes Trump more conciliatory, or does it make the incoming U.S. president more determined to slap a 25 percent tariff on imports from Canada?

- Trudeau hurting matters more than helping - as usual.


And then there’s Russia. On November 7, on the state-owned Russia-1 channel, one of the most popular channels in the country, the Russian political talk show 60 минут (60 Minutes) displayed the nude photos that Melania Trump took for British GQ back in 2000, five years before she married Trump.
Russia-1 anchor Evgeny Popov declares, “Now that Melania Trump’s husband has finally won, she is getting ready to go back to the White House for a second time. Here is how Melania looked in the year 2000. This is the cover of the magazine GQ. The future first lady lies on top of furs in a negligee.” It goes on for about a minute and a half; the program made sure the viewers saw every photo from that magazine spread several times.
Now, things like this don’t just pop up on Russian state-owned television by accident. Nothing appears on Russian state-owned television without the approval of the Russian government. And little if anything happens in the Russian government without the approval of Vladimir Putin.


- odd behavior towards your puppet isn't it?
 
I’m guessing Ford’s approach is the wrong one, considering the personality down south. Trump always tries to counterpunch harder. The tariffs are the counter punch to a lax Canadian security/border/immigration stance. Going tit for tat against your largest trading partner that dwarfs you is a losing prospect.

Pretty sure you’ve read “Art of the Deal” so you’ll know that Trump actually respects people who don’t cower, but instead chose to do business the way he does business.

There is a ring of States surrounding Ontario that very much appreciate bilateral trade of 1/2 a TRILLION dollars. America is more a collection of States in a Republic, and one entity that that represents trade worth 2.6% of America’s entire GDP, isn’t insignificant.
 
Pretty sure you’ve read “Art of the Deal” so you’ll know that Trump actually respects people who don’t cower, but instead chose to do business the way he does business.

There is a ring of States surrounding Ontario that very much appreciate bilateral trade of 1/2 a TRILLION dollars. America is more a collection of States in a Republic, and one entity that that represents trade worth 2.6% of America’s entire GDP, isn’t insignificant.

Fair points G2G.
 
... There is a ring of States surrounding Ontario that very much appreciate bilateral trade of 1/2 a TRILLION dollars ....
Good point.

On power alone, Michigan & NY are Ontario's biggest customers. I'm told MI's a swing state, so could potentially twist arms in Washington if feeling pressed enough. NY's pretty Democrat, but I'm guessing that big money in that part of the country could (notwithstanding the "drain the swamp" sentiments) still twist some arms as well if feeling pressed.

Another thing to keep an eye on: some say a key aim of the proposed tarrifs/taxes on imports is to generate $ for POTUS47 proposals like tax cuts. If that's what's driving the issue, in whole (not likely) or in part (likely), as long as that sweet nectar is coming in, there could be 1) hesitance to turn off the faucet, and 2) moving targets to make the tariffs/taxes go away, allowing the faucet to stay open.

And with the impact on American consumers -- strains on border states as you mentioned, higher prices, (more?) supply chain snarls, inflation - guess who POTUS47's going to blame ;)

Let's see what happens ....
 
Good point.

On power alone, Michigan & NY are Ontario's biggest customers. I'm told MI's a swing state, so could potentially twist arms in Washington if feeling pressed enough. NY's pretty Democrat, but I'm guessing that big money in that part of the country could (notwithstanding the "drain the swamp" sentiments) still twist some arms as well if feeling pressed.

Another thing to keep an eye on: some say a key aim of the proposed tarrifs/taxes on imports is to generate $ for POTUS47 proposals like tax cuts. If that's what's driving the issue, in whole (not likely) or in part (likely), as long as that sweet nectar is coming in, there could be 1) hesitance to turn off the faucet, and 2) moving targets to make the tariffs/taxes go away, allowing the faucet to stay open.

And with the impact on American consumers -- strains on border states as you mentioned, higher prices, (more?) supply chain snarls, inflation - guess who POTUS47's going to blame ;)

Let's see what happens ....

WI, MI and PA were all significant swing state wins for Trump. MI is ON’s (and CA’s) largest single trading partner. MI in particular would feel the effect of Trump tariffs as the biggest trading partner with Ontario(Canada) in the Union.


Edited to add the visual of how ON-US energy/hydro embargoes would affect Trump-positive states…
IMG_5468.jpeg
 
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