“I’ve talked to so many governors and congresspeople and senators and never once did they say Canada is the problem,” Ford told CNN. He emphasized that a bilateral deal between Canada and the U.S. would be a better solution than imposing tariffs on Canadian goods.

I’m no fan of Doug Ford, but he’s right here. I guess Trump’s plan is to drive Canada into the ground economically through tariffs then invade or otherwise annex Canada when it’s too poor and desperate to resist. But why? It would be more profitable to both the USA and Canada simply not to do any of this. There are only two explanations I can think of:

1. Belligerence is the only thing Trump understands, even when it works to his own disadvantage, because actual diplomacy is too complicated for him and soft power contains the word “soft”, and/or
2. Trump isn’t working for the interests of the USA, but rather for those who want to see NATO and other Western alliances destroyed.