[Atlantis]

Trump is an endless source of amusement, if you have a sense for the macabre. Recently he tried to justify the genocide of the native Indians and indicated the rest of the world was in for a similar treatment, because America is a force for peace.

A phone call with Macron went sour to the point that sources could only qualify it as “terrible.” Macron said phone calls with Trump are like sausages, you are better off not knowing what’s inside.

In a phone conversation with Trudeau about steel tariffs, Trump now accused the Canadians of burning down the White House in 1812 in what is a rather dodgy use of history.

It seems that Trump has his own interpretation of history to suit his personal worldview.

Trump invokes War of 1812 in testy call with Trudeau over tariffs

June 6, 2018

(CNN)President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had a testy phone call on May 25 over new tariffs imposed by the Trump administration targeting steel and aluminium imports coming from Canada, including one moment during the conversation in which Trump made an erroneous historical reference, sources familiar with the discussion told CNN.

According to the sources, Trudeau pressed Trump on how he could justify the tariffs as a "national security" issue. In response, Trump quipped to Trudeau, "Didn't you guys burn down the White House?" referring to the War of 1812.

The problem with Trump's comments to Trudeau is that British troops burned down the White House during the War of 1812. Historians note the British attack on Washington was in retaliation for the American attack on York, Ontario, in territory that eventually became Canada, which was then a British colony.

When asked if the comment was received as a joke, one source on the call said: "To the degree one can ever take what is said as a joke. The impact on Canada and ultimately on workers in the US won't be a laughing matter."

The White House and the National Security Council did not immediately return CNN requests for comment.
During the Burning of Washington, on August 24, 1814, first lady Dolley Madison famously rescued a portrait of George Washington before fleeing the White House.

Trudeau has publicly denounced the "national security" justification for the new tariffs.
"The idea that we are somehow a national security threat to the United States is, quite frankly, insulting and unacceptable," Trudeau told NBC's Meet the Press.

"And I would just say to all of Canada's American friends -- and there are so many -- seriously? Do you really believe that Canada, that your NATO allies, represent a national security threat to you?" Freeland asked on CNN's "State of the Union."

Freeland met with Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker Monday to relay Canada's concerns regarding the tariffs, a Corker spokeswoman told CNN.

Corker, whose state of Tennessee is home to foreign and domestic auto plants, questioned Trump's national security justification in a statement last week.

"There is no reason to use this provision to consider imposing tariffs on the automobile industry, and this appears to be either an attempt to affect domestic politics ahead of the election or for some other transactional purpose regarding ongoing trade discussions. This is a dangerous course and should be abandoned immediately," Corker said in the statement.

Trump defended his decision on tariffs on Canada and other US allies in a tweet over the weekend.
"The United States must, at long last, be treated fairly on trade," the President tweeted on Saturday.
A senior administration official declined to discuss the specifics of Trump's phone call with Trudeau but acknowledged some of the President's conversations with his foreign counterparts on the subject of trade have been confrontational.

"It's understandable that change causes friction," the official said, noting some of Trump's recent tariff announcements have brought stubborn trading partners back to the negotiating table.

Canadian officials confirm to CNN that months ago Trump personally assured Trudeau that Canada would likely be exempt from steel and aluminium tariffs. The Trump administration at one point granted Canada and Mexico a last-minute reprieve from tariffs in March as negotiations to rework the North American Free Trade Agreement, known as NAFTA, continued.

In April, Canada tried to address what Trump said were concerns about Chinese steel and aluminium being dumped into Canada and then being shipped into the United States. Trudeau announced increased funding and border vigilance "to prevent transshipment and diversion of unfairly priced foreign steel and aluminium into the North American market," according to a statement released in April.

It was the understanding of Canadians officials at the time that this would satisfy the Trump administration and allow for Canada to receive a permanent exemption from tariffs. Just days before Trudeau is set to host a G7 Summit in Quebec, Canadian officials tell CNN they are just trying to "keep Trump happy."
Asked about Trump's remark that the Canadians burned down the White House, aides to the President and to Canada's Trudeau declined to comment.

Trudeau just hasn't understood who is friend and who is foe. In his place, I would ask the Russians to supply some S-400 systems just to be on the safe side.

[Beren]

[One Degree]

The White House and the National Security Council did not immediately return CNN requests for comment.
During the Burning of Washington, on August 24, 1814, first lady Dolley Madison famously rescued a portrait of George Washington before fleeing the White House

This is humorous. They include their own distortion of history in an article about Trump’s distortion. I believe most historians agree it was someone else, probably a servant, who actually rescued the portrait. I forget now who was actually considered responsible.

[Zamuel]

Trudeau just hasn't understood who is friend and who is foe.

So now Trump wants to renegotiate the war of 1812 … He's probably hoping to make them take back Michigan … Maybe they have to integrate the Eagles into Canadian football ?

Zam

[Beren]

Maybe Trump has a grudge against Canada too, Justin refused Ivanka perhaps? He obviously hates Germany for having kicked out his grandparents.

He's like an angry patriarch supposed to teach family members (NATO-allies and NAFTA-partners) a lesson.

Saying Canada is a national security threat and they burned down the White House is incorrect and a gross insult.



US against the world, allies especially!

[Stormsmith]

Trump is supposed to trundle up here Friday for a G7 (or G6 + 1).He doesnt want to come as he's worried about the lectures from all and sundry. Hell of a move announcing tariffs days before this trip.

Oh, we all know how he feels about Obama and crowd size, hee hee. Canadians still love Obama. There's news film footage of Obama in Parliament saying goodbye where all Houses stood and cheered him with chants of "four more years". Bet we see that tape repeatedly.

[Hong Wu]

Didn't Trump have another water bottle incident recently? This is two scoops level stuff...

[jimjam]

In a phone conversation with Trudeau about steel tariffs, Trump now accused the Canadians of burning down the White House in 1812 in what is a rather dodgy use of history.

Let's see ……….. Donald's idea of diplomacy, basically …. agree with me 100% or go fuck yourself, has given America enemies on her northern and southern borders and various countries around the world excepting our good friends in Russia and North Korea.

[Atlantis]

Let's see ……….. Donald's idea of diplomacy, basically …. agree with me 100% or go fuck yourself,

I don't believe that works either. Abe has bent as low as he possible could playing golf and agreeing to all of Trump's demands for trade, yet Trump punished Japan with steel and aluminium tariffs just like all the rest.

Perhaps he is just testing to see if anybody has enough spine to oppose him.

[Potemkin]

I don't believe that works either. Abe has bent as low as he possible could playing golf and agreeing to all of Trump's demands for trade, yet Trump punished Japan with steel and aluminium tariffs just like all the rest.

Perhaps he is just testing to see if anybody has enough spine to oppose him.

No, Trump just seems to be a narcissist. Narcissists always see themselves as innocent, saint-like victims who are beset on all sides by villainous people who will stop at nothing in their malevolent, unmotivated hatred of him. Trump genuinely believes that he (and by extension, America) is the victim here. Lol.

[Beren]

Japan is in total vassal status. Unlike Germany they were defeated by the US military completely, they have half the population of the US, they have no formidable military power and they're in a very unfortunate geopolitical situation at the mercy of the US.

[jimjam]

The G7 meeting’s central disagreements were over tariffs that Trump has imposed for false reasons. He claims that he’s merely responding to other countries. But the average current tariff of the United States, Britain, Germany and France is identical, according to the World Bank: 1.6 percent. Japan’s is 1.4 percent, and Canada’s is 0.8 percent. Yes, every country has a few objectionable tariffs, but they’re small — and the United States is not a victim here.

So Trump isn’t telling the truth about trade, much as he has lied about Barack Obama’s birthplace, his own position on the Iraq War, his inauguration crowd, voter fraud, the murder rate, Mexican immigrants, the Russian investigation, the Stormy Daniels hush money and several hundred other subjects. The tariffs aren’t a case of his identifying a real problem but describing it poorly. He is threatening the Atlantic alliance over a lie.

[Zamuel]

He is threatening the Atlantic alliance over a lie.

While taking up Putin's desire to return Russia to the G8 and dividing America against itself at every opportunity. Maybe we really are hunting a "witch" here. He has cast a spell over America that defies reason.

Zam

[One Degree]

It is no lie that the US has a trade imbalance and a trade deficit. It does not matter to a nationalist what figures you can come up with to say it is not a problem. Any President should feel duty bound to correct it. Unless you can show the US is benefiting from the status quo, your figures are meaningless.
Yes, I know some of you have actually tried to show this and those arguments should be given consideration.

[Stormsmith]

While taking up Putin's desire to return Russia to the G8 and dividing America against itself at every opportunity. Maybe we really are hunting a "witch" here. He has cast a spell over America that defies reason.

Zam

By attempting this, Trump has in fact, created a G6 + 1, which effectively has created a division of the G6 from the US, which puts the G6 and did the rest of NATO at odds with the US. Congrats to Trump, who has achieved another of Putin's goals, weakening NATO, and weakening the US....oh wait, that's 2 goals.

[jimjam]

Roland Paris, a former foreign affairs adviser to Mr. Trudeau, commented, “Big tough guy once he’s back on his airplane,” he wrote on Twitter. “Can’t do it in person, and knows it, which makes him feel week. So he projects these feelings onto Trudeau and then lashes out at him. You don’t need to be Freud. He’s a pathetic little man-child."

He arrived 18 minutes late for a Saturday session on gender equality and did not bother putting his headphones on for translation when President Emmanuel Macron of France spoke. At some points, Mr. Trump closed his eyes in what people in the room took to mean he was dozing off. And, of course, he left early.

Donald Dickhead goes to a major international meeting in Prime Minister Trudeau's house, Canada, and does a great job of insulting his host and all the other attendees at the meeting. This ass is an embarrassment to America. I hope someone announces to the world that, hey, this asshole is not indicative of America and Americans.

Good Lord..... how do you fuck up a relationship with Canada. One of the most peaceful and delightful countries in the world. What's next for Donald Dickhead? A simple minded twitter attack on Greenland? Well, now it looks like America and Russia against the rest of the world

Slightly off topic here but I just got a glimpse at Donald Dickhead's cuffs ….. each one is exquisitely embroidered with the #45 …. I presume for the 45th POTUS. Does it get any stupider?

[Godstud]

It is no lie that the US has a trade imbalance and a trade deficit.

So what? Do you even know anything about trade deficits? Trump sure doesn't.

In Praise Of Trade Deficits
There is a common perception in the media and in the general public that trade deficits are bad news. The conventional wisdom is that these deficits are a drag on gross domestic product. Surely, it must bad for a country's economy to import more than it exports, right?

In reality, the trade deficit may be more pro-cyclical, moving in the same direction as local GDP. In this article we will examine the correlation between trade deficits and GDP to show that sometimes it doesn't pay to follow conventional wisdom.

Trade Deficit Effects
There are two competing theories that have surfaced regarding the effects of a trade deficit on GDP:

Theory 1: Trade deficits drag down GDP and add to the threat of an economic crisis if foreigners dump the local currency in world currency markets.

Theory 2: Increasing trade deficits can be a sign of strong GDP. They will not create a drag on GDP, and any potential downward pressure on the local currency is actually a benefit to that country.

For the most part, the media and the general public have a perception that trade deficits as we know them are bad and can drag on GDP. In reality, the trade deficit may be more pro-cyclical, moving in the same direction as local GDP. In fact, the other factors contributing to the expanding GDP can accelerate its growth.
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/e ... ffects.asp

Trump Hates the Trade Deficit. Most Economists Don’t.
“If you look across countries, there’s no evidence that high tariffs reduce your trade deficit,” said Joseph E. Gagnon, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, and a co-author of a 2017 book of policy recommendations on how to reduce trade imbalances.

“The trade deficit is a terrible metric for judging economic policy,” said Lawrence H. Summers, a Harvard economist and former chairman of President Barack Obama’s National Economic Council. Mr. Summers said tariffs would actually worsen deficits by making American companies that ship steel and aluminium overseas less competitive, and by inviting foreign retaliatory tariffs against other exports.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/05/us/p ... trump.html

Trump made himself look colossally stupid with his 1812 comment, and this only further makes him, and by virtue of him being President, America look dumb, as well.

[Ter]

Good Lord..... how do you fuck up a relationship with Canada. One of the most peaceful and delightful countries in the world.

Everything in your post was probably very accurate, but what about the 270% tax on import of American dairy into Canada ?
That is a pretty unfriendly gesture among neighbours.
And if there is too much milk, like they said on the BBC, pack it into UHT cartons and send it to Bangladesh for god's sake!

[Godstud]

@Ter This is one of the last remnants of Canadian exceptionalism, and even I am not a fan of it. Still...

As the trade minister, Chrystia Freeland, has pointed out, trade data flatly contradicts the claim that Canadian supply management is ravaging US dairyland – either because it unfairly restricts imports or because it dumps a subsidized surplus in US markets. In 2016, Canada imported dairy products from the US worth five times more than the small amount it exported there. “I would call that a pretty good deal,” she told the House of Commons.

Canadian farmers point out that despite the tariffs that protect them, imports make up 10% of the country’s dairy consumption. By contrast, the US restricts dairy imports to 3% of domestic consumption. “That just screams hypocrisy to me,” Muirhead said. “I don’t understand how they can get away with these positions.”

As a recent visitor to Wisconsin, “America’s Dairyland”, where low prices are forcing the closure of hundreds of dairy farms a year, Muirhead said he encountered no resentment against Canada among local farmers. “The president of the Wisconsin Farmers Union told me that what they really wanted was a supply-managed system like ours,” he said.

Dairy deregulation has spread hardship wherever it has been implemented, Muirhead added.“Every single objective indicator says that in the case of dairy you cannot have a system that operates without production controls,” he said. “If you try, you’re basically consigning your farmers to a life of penury – or worse.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/comme ... -trade-war

[Albert]

Perhaps the tariffs have nothing to do with trade at all. Maybe Trump is playing a different game here.

Good Lord..... how do you fuck up a relationship with Canada. One of the most peaceful and delightful countries in the world. What's next for Donald Dickhead? A simple minded twitter attack on Greenland? Well, now it looks like America and Russia against the rest of the world

You mean the infamous international community? That is not the world but only 6 countries. Now as things are progressing UK might leave and Italy at some point as well. Hence only leave the four countries, If Japan leaves that is only 3. Canada, France and Germany.