Do the recurring bad jokes of the President-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, risk causing a diplomatic crisis between Ottawa and Washington? Nothing is less certain, according to an analyst.
Through his sweeping statements, Mr. Trump, who evokes the idea of making Canada the 51st American state, does not rule out the idea of annexing by force the Panama Canal and Greenland, a territorial subdivision of Denmark, to the point of raising eyebrows, especially in Europe.
“In all three cases, […] there are financial connections to be made,” observed Stéphan Bureau Tuesday evening on Téléjournal at 10 p.m. on TVA Nouvelles.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the head of Canadian diplomacy Mélanie Joly had to react to the Republican billionaire’s threats to use “economic force” against Canada.
“Never, ever, will Canada be part of the United States,” Mr. Trudeau mentioned on the X platform, thus rejecting this idea out of hand.
“He threatens us in our wallet, reminding us that Canada has always been protected by the United States, at the expense of the United States. It came up several times today,” noted the political columnist.
More clearly stated, Donald Trump would insinuate Ottawa to buy more American military equipment, suggesting to Canadians better protection with the United States as sponsor, according to the analysis by Stéphan Bureau.
But beyond Mr. Trump’s expansionist aims, which contrast with international diplomacy, the American president’s remarks are seen as a form of negotiation which seems capable of moving the lines.
“If we come back to the essence of what Mr. Trump is, it is that he has a word that he wants to be performative. He says, if I say something, it should shake things up. It worked with Mexico, it has worked with Canada to date,” concluded Mr. Bureau.
-Listen to the full interview in the video above.
