Canadian Politicians Who Continue to Blame Canada for Trump’s Tariffs and His Hostility to Free Trade Are Demonstrating Their Own Psychological Weakness and Willingness to Submit to Irrational Tyranny

Trump has clearly shown who he is. After all this time, refusing to acknowledge reality is beyond pathetic.

I continue to see some Canadian politicians – particularly on the right – act as if U.S. President Donald Trump is some sort of force of nature without agency, and that the consequences of his actions must be blamed on those who are negatively impacted by those actions.

For example, in the wake of new U.S. tariff rules that will hurt Canadian workers – particularly in Windsor – much of the criticism from the right has been directed at the Canadian Government for somehow ‘failing’ to stop the tariffs, criticism that is then beingh followed up with claims that Canada isn’t ‘seriously negotiating’ with the U.S. (claims based on remarks from U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra who dutifully represents Trump’s bad-faith negotiating posture rather than reality). Worse than this, some on the right are now claiming that talk of Canada being economically overreliant on the United States is ‘stoking fear.’

Psychological weakness

This is an ongoing pattern in how some on the right deal with Donald Trump. Rather than acknowledge that he is a person with responsibility and agency, and rather than acknowledge that he has threatened Canada, started the trade conflict (Canada already had the ‘tariff-free deal’ the Conservatives claim is ‘their plan’ until Trump unilaterally blew it up), rather than acknowledge that Trump is hostile to the concept of free trade itself, and rather than acknowledge that reducing our dependence on trade with the U.S. is the only way reduce our susceptibility to economic coercion, some on the pro-MAGA Canadian right prefer instead to blame it all on Canada. This is psychological weakness, weakness borne out of a desire to submit to Trump within an authoritarian dominance hierarchy, and anger towards those – like the non-MAGA majority in Canada – who see Trump for what he is and who refuse to submit to his irrational demands.

Submitting to irrationality means submitting to tyranny

This psychological weakness is dangerous because those who want to submit to Trump and who blame others for Trump’s actions are indicating their willingness to submit to irrationality. Trump is a deeply irrational leader, with constantly changing whims and demands, and who makes decisions based on the emotions of the moment. Trump once called CUSMA “the largest, most significant, modern, and balanced trade agreement in history.” Now, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick says Trump thinks CUSMA is “a bad deal.” In recent weeks, Trump has threatened to destroy Iranian civilization, made wildly inaccurate remarks about the state of the war and negotiations, insulted the Prime Minister of Italy, watched his pro-Putin ally Viktor Orban get crushed in Hungary, and attacked the Pope. Unsurprisingly, his support in the U.S. is in rapid decline.

Is that who pro-MAGA figures on the Canadian right want Canada to submit to? Is that the kind of irrationality Canada should align with? After all this time, after Trump has so clearly shown that he doesn’t negotiate in good faith and that he will exploit any dependence, to keep blaming Canada for Trump’s actions and to continue demanding submission to his demands is pathetic. And because submission to irrationality is the precursor to tyranny (rationality doesn’t require submission), those who want to submit to Trump are proving their susceptibility to the kind of political movements that have proven so destructive of human freedom throughout history.

Spencer Fernando