Canada exists only because of the United States of America, and Europe is sinking, it has become unrecognizable, it is going in the wrong direction, it risks dying civilizationally, and if it hadn’t been for the USA, by now Europeans would be speaking German.
This is how Donald Trump and his administration relate to his country’s two key partners, partners who are vital to the very security, growth and well-being of the United States.
Trump has already made a habit of ridiculing the two great “middle powers” – Davos was just another episode in a long film – but by this very gesture, the leader in Washington is personally sinking into ridicule: first because he has to resort to the most basic lies and exaggerations, all easily dismantled; secondly, since when he expresses himself his argument is all over the place and he’s suspiciously infantile; and lastly because after each absurd criticism of Europe and Canada, Donald Trump invariably ends up swallowing his own words – of course, always trying to do it discreetly, but never managing to do it without being noticed.
The ridiculousness of the situation that Trump creates when he ridicules Europe and Canada becomes even more so when you compare the Trumpist poison reserved for the strategic partners of the US to the sweet, marshmallow-like tone he reserves for his country’s strategic enemy, Russia, and for the internationally recognized criminal dictator, Vladimir Putin.
A tyrant with friends, humble with the enemy, terse with liberals, flaccid with autocrats – this is today’s president of the United States.
It is also no coincidence that, internally, after only one year in office the Trump administration has produced a line of innocent victims this time not only through inflammatory pronouncements but through the brainless actions of the ICE machine.
And yet, this foul-mouthed and disoriented president every day seems more and more surrounded both by those he protects (Russia and Putin), by those he avoids (China and Xi), by those he obsessively humiliates (Europe and Canada).
Russia and Putin exploit his weaknesses, the so-called Donald Trump being a variable explored by the KGB since he was a young businessman, intensely exploited more recently, in his presidential old age. With a fanatical zeal, while Trump’s Washington spares and even promotes the interests of Putin’s Moscow, in the case of Ukraine, Putin’s Moscow sabotages absolutely all the peace efforts made by Trump.
Xi’s China exploits Trump’s atavistic fear of stock market reactions and the fate of exports from regions where his electoral base is.
The chess game with tariffs, started by Washington against China, was hijacked in grand style by Beijing, a capital whose leaders perfectly understood that the weaknesses of the American leader opened the window of opportunity unexpectedly wide: not limited only to the economic and e-commercial aspect of the bilateral relationship, but also to the Taiwan issue (we will probably see the first concrete signals sometime in the spring, whether the Trump-Xi meeting takes place or not).
Finally, Europe and Canada inaugurated the New Year by finally drawing a line: preserving the strategic political line – that America still needs to be kept close – but updating this historic approach by identifying Donald Trump as an enemy and, consequently, by broadening the horizons away from the US coasts.
It is symptomatic that, while Trump is coercing through tariffs, the EU is retaliating by immunizing itself against this plague.
How?
In a few weeks, accelerated negotiations that had been going on for a quarter of a century (the case of the Mercosur agreement) and a rapprochement to India (itself co-interested because of Trump’s hostile attitude) in such a way that Prime Minister Narendra Modi rolled out the red carpet for Brussels and prepared the documents for the signing of what Ursula von der Leyen called “the mother of all agreements”.
For its part, Canada has just made itself even more at Europe’s disposal, in terms of trade, political and security cooperation, and has spectacularly thawed its relationship with China, a relationship frozen for a decade by Ottawa, by virtue of its loyal policy towards Washington.
Canada has thawed the relationship with China not just anyhow, but through strategic partnership. And it hurt Washington some since Trump threatened the Carney administration with 100% tariffs (unlikely, because it’s impossible).
Through the toxic discourse towards Europe and Canada, which he does whenever he likes, the primitive boasting about China, but without having all the cards for this job, as well as promoting Russia’s interests in Ukraine (an additional strategic affront to Europe, Canada and the free world), Donald Trump has insistently cultivated the impression that he is unique in the world.
In reality, and reality is often harsher than dreams, Donald Trump has ended up being unique – in the sense he is alone and also surrounded.
Nothing is working out for Trump internationally, and from here on on, conditions have developed to make sure that nothing works out for him domestically either.
Slowly, but surely, Donald Trump has no choice but to put on a show, but pay out of his own pocket for all the tickets to occupy the seats in the hall.
Around him, life goes on – intensely, but in completely different theaters.
