New friends

Trump is creating new friendships. Not with him, of course, but with people and countries not-him.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday welcomed the European Union’s ambition to make Ottawa an associate member of the 27-nation bloc and said Canadian lawmakers would ultimately vote on the final structure of the alliance.

“Canada and Europe are each strong. Europe and Canada are stronger together,” Carney told EU lawmakers in Strasbourg, France.

Canada’s prime minister did not name President Donald Trump in his speech, but he nodded to his U.S. counterpart’s use of tariffs by saying, “Economic integration is now being weaponized — tariffs being used to exert pressure.”

Trump likes to weaponize things. He also likes to sexualize things. If he can’t do one or the other, well, what’s the point of that thing at all?

[Carney’s] comments come shortly after Trump described the prospect of Canada becoming the first associate member of the EU as “laughable” and threatened the bloc with tariffs if he deemed the move to be a “hostile act.”

Speaking to reporters in North Carolina, Trump called Canada a “terrible trade partner” and said the U.S. could even “stop trading with Europe on many things” if the EU moves ahead with its plan. “If it’s a good intention, that’s fine. If it’s a bad intention, we’ll put very heavy tariffs on Europe,” Trump said.

His concept of “good” is that it means “something Trump likes”.

“This alliance is a positive process; that’s my response to the American president. A stronger, more resilient, more sovereign Canada will be a more effective partner with the United States,” Carney told reporters at a news conference shortly after his speech.

“Canadians are united that nobody is going to tell us what language we speak, no one is going to dictate our culture or with whom we can strike agreements internationally,” he added.

You mean Trump is not the boss of the whole world?

What a concept.

Comments

5 responses to “New friends”

  1. guest Avatar

    Reminds me of a joke in Robert Newman’s History of Oil – ‘the US has managed to unite all the other countries against it. They even have their own flag – it’s like the American flag, only on fire.’

  2. Colin Day Avatar

    Trump likes to weaponize things. He also likes to sexualize things. If he can’t do one or the other, well, what’s the point of that thing at all?

    You forgot about monetizing things.

  3. twiliter Avatar

    And branding things (in order to grift).

  4. What a Maroon Avatar
    What a Maroon

    Trump likes to weaponize things. He also likes to sexualize things. If he can’t do one or the other, well, what’s the point of that thing at all?

    You forgot about monetizing things.

    Or ideally all three.

  5. Freemage Avatar

    Honestly, this needs to be happening more. They should invite Mexico to join this grouping, as well. And as a group, they should pass a rule that says that any new tariffs against one shall be treated as a tariff against all, with all the member nations instituting a universal tariff against US goods in equal amount. Make it impossible for Trump to put up new tariffs without totally isolating the US instantly.

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