Tomorrow, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is due to meet President Trump at the White House just over a week after being rewarded by voters with a Liberal minority government.
While Trump has not referred to Carney as Governor as he did with his predecessor Justin Trudeau that could easily change in a meeting watched by the whole world. In which case, Trump might pull a Zelensky and berate both Carney and Canada. Perhaps VP Vance will get in a few kicks. The thought has crossed the mind of many a Canadian including some pro-Trump Canadians who are gleeful at the thought.
Carney was asked about this directly to which he replied:
Look, I go there with the expectation of constructive, difficult, but constructive discussions. That's the spirit of the conversations the President and I had. You go to these meetings well prepared understanding the objectives of your counterpart and always acting in the best interests of Canada and we'll go from there.
The problem here is that it is clear that Carney is entering this discussion in good faith. The same cannot be said for President Trump.
In the event that President Trump refers to Carney as Governor, calls Canada the 51st state, states that the U.S. does not need Canadian lumber, energy or anything else, then all Carney needs to do is stand up, offer to shake hands and politely tell Trump he will take Canada's business elsewhere adding that he is free to make a call if he is serious about negotiating.
And then walk away.
In so doing, he would walk away a winner.
I write this in the hope that this doesn't come to pass. I sincerely hope that Trump will refer to Carney by his proper title and say the two had a productive conversation and look forward to negotiations.
But this is Trump we are talking about. Trump didn't get to where he is by being nice and polite.
As such, Carney needs to prepare for the worst and that means being prepared to walk out on President Trump in front of the whole world.
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