When it comes to assessing the outcome of the summit meeting in Alaska on Friday between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, I am from Missouri. For those who are not familiar with that expression, Missouri is known as the ‘show me’ state, meaning ‘I want evidence, I’m skeptical, you will have to prove it to me.’ I relate to that.
In my Listen Up article last week, I wondered if Canada could get a fair deal with Donald Trump and ultimately concluded that it could not. This time I want to double down on that.
I wonder how much the Summit Meeting in Alaska was more of a get-together of two like-minded friends than it was about really finding a fair resolution to the war in Ukraine. Trump and Putin appeared more like old buddies than the adversaries or opponents they are supposed to be. One pundit observed, “The world is watching the President of the United States bend his knee to Moscow on live TV.”
Trump boasted going in that he would get a cease-fire agreement with Putin or he would walk out. After the summit, there was no ceasefire; Trump did not walk out and instead stood by Vladimir Putin as he effectively gave a victory speech.
Olga Nesterova is a renowned journalist and political analyst, and more lately, the founder of Onset Media, a consulting company that offers its services to Fortune 500 companies. Here is what she said about the Alaska summit.
“These two are friends. Period. End of story. I’ve covered a variety of summits, and I know what admiration looks like. That’s the end of world order as we knew it. A sad day for everyone.”
My guess is that Putin and Trump spent more time talking about their mutual interests, including carving up neighbouring territory, than they did on actually stopping the war in Ukraine.
On Monday, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is scheduled to meet with United States President Donald Trump in Washington. Trump will, in my view, try to convince Zelenskyy to end the war in Ukraine by giving up land to Russia, likely the Donbas region of Ukraine, in order to end the war.
Effectively, he will be telling the world that it is okay for an aggressor to start a war in order to gain territory. The hard news, in my view, is that however much Trump tries to appear to be helping Ukraine, he is little more than Putin’s man and will seek an outcome that will suit him.
In Canada, Prime Minister Mark Carney is still trying to appease Donald Trump. Of the Alaska summit, Carney has said, “Trump is creating an opportunity to end the war in Ukraine.” At least in terms of leaving Ukraine intact, that is not how I read the tea leaves.
I hope that Prime Minister Carney and his government are fully aware of who they are dealing with in the United States. There simply is no upside.
Again, this week, Donald Trump has shown his preference for authoritarian rule by again pitting American troops against the American people and by telling the prestigious Smithsonian Institute what historical exhibits they can or cannot feature—more signs of revisionism and total control.
This past week as well, George Conway, a lawyer, Republican, and prominent commentator who has warned against Donald Trump for years, could not have been more blunt when he said, “What we have here (with Trump) isn’t traditional conservatism. It isn’t traditional republicanism. But I think a better word for it would be gangsterism. We don’t have Ronald Regan anymore. We have Tony Soprano.”
I would hesitate to go that far, but I do believe that the Canadian government needs to recognize that it will be next to impossible to make a deal of any kind with the Trump Administration that will be fair to Canada.
Indeed, I believe it is imperative to come to the conclusion that the tariff issues with the United States, while potentially devastating, are more of a smoke screen to cover Donald Trump’s real intentions when it comes to Canada. In simple terms, he wants it.
Michael Dobner is a senior partner, economist, and trade expert at PricewaterhouseCoopers, a large Canadian accounting and consulting firm. He is also the national leader of their policy practice.
His view is that “President Trump’s Trade War with Canada is ultimately about America’s neighbor to the North, giving up some of its sovereignty to the United States.”
He goes on to say, “It is clear that Trump is not willing to do a deal with Canada, and I think the reason for that is that his aspirations regarding Canada are not the same as for Europe or Japan.”
Trump himself said in July, ”We haven’t really had a lot of luck with Canada. I think Canada would be one where they just pay tariffs. It’s not really a negation.”
Even the Toronto Star is beginning to acknowledge the real threat that Canada is facing from the Trump Administration. The headline on a recent opinion piece by journalist Andrew Phillips reads, “Trump sends signals he’s coming after Canada.”
The starting point for any aggression is always to make your opponent look like the bad guy. Phillips points out that this propaganda is well underway by the Trump Administration. He highlights remarks from Pete Hoekstra, America’s ambassador to Canada, who is busy spinning tales that Canada is the ‘bad guy,’ angry, and disrespectful of the Trump Administration, and that they are the ones who started the trade wars in the first place.
Phillips believes that this is the precursor to Trump dumping the current trade agreement between Canada, the United States, and Mexico (CUSMA), a further step in challenging Canada’s economy and sovereignty. I tend to agree with him.
On this, Phillips said, “To me it is quite clear Hoekstra is laying the groundwork for Trump to toss CUSMA aside and blame Canada for its demise.”
The bottom line here is that Donald Trump wants as much of Canada as he can get. He doesn’t give a damn about our sovereignty, and his use of tariffs is just one tool he has at his disposal to achieve his objective. There will be others.
That is why Trump will never stop Russia from taking land from Ukraine and likely never stop China from taking Taiwan. It is difficult not to imagine the synergy here.
The real battle for Canada is not the trade wars with the United States. They are simply the means to an end. The real battle is Canada’s sovereignty. One can only hope that Mark Carney and his government are gearing up for this and not wearing rose-coloured glasses related to the real challenge that Canada faces.
At best, Donald Trump resembles a neighbouring despot. At its worst, he is a clear and present danger to Canada.
Canadians need to see some hard evidence that the Carney government gets that.
Hugh Mackenzie.
Hugh Mackenzie has held elected office as a trustee on the Muskoka Board of Education, a Huntsville councillor, a District councillor, and mayor of Huntsville. He has also served as chairman of the District of Muskoka and as chief of staff to former premier of Ontario, Frank Miller.
Hugh has also served on a number of provincial, federal and local boards, including chair of the Ontario Health Disciplines Board, vice-chair of the Ontario Family Health Network, vice-chair of the Ontario Election Finance Commission, and board member of Roy Thomson Hall, the National Theatre School of Canada, and the Anglican Church of Canada. Locally, he has served as president of the Huntsville Rotary Club, chair of Huntsville District Memorial Hospital, chair of the Huntsville Hospital Foundation, president of Huntsville Festival of the Arts, and board member of Community Living Huntsville.
In business, Hugh Mackenzie has a background in radio and newspaper publishing. He was also a founding partner and CEO of Enterprise Canada, a national public affairs and strategic communications firm established in 1986.
Currently, Hugh is president of C3 Digital Media Inc., the parent company of Doppler Online, and he enjoys writing commentary for Huntsville Doppler.
Don’t miss out on Doppler!
Sign up here to receive our email digest with links to our most recent stories.
Local news in your inbox so you don’t miss anything!
Click here to support local news
Mr. Davis; I understand that the Americans are pouring some money into the separatist movement in Alberta. Likely, an early step in the divisiveness to make Canada the 51st State. Have you heard/read the same thing? Perhaps PP could check this out this alleged interference, now that he represents an Alberta riding.
Or will PP turncoat and become the conciliatory quisling?
Following the Ottawa Covid Convoy, I have ceased to view PP coming from a position of strength as a leader for all Canadians.
Katherine Henderson; try giving your speech to the Canadian Ukranian population. I understand that Canada has the greatest Ukranian diaspora population. Do you know anything about Ukranian immigrants over centuries?
Your view of geopolitical history may benefit from a bit of reading or movie watching.
Canada cannot isolate itself from what goes on in the rest of the world, we do so at our own peril.
I am very concerned that P P is spending time trying to change his image. I am still looking for leadership. As leader of the opposition he has the right to question BUT IN THIS ECONOMY his political life is not what I am looking for but his leadership. I would be interested in listening and hearing some ideas and some support on some ideas as Canada fights our sovereignty, climate change and new infrastructure to support Canada.
It will be hard work and yes as Canadians we will have to make changes and sacrifice. We did it with food stamps, low wages and 6% house interest on our mortgages by pulling together not as individuals. Interesting times
I find it ironic that we continue to be fearful of Trump. We as a society have welcomed big corporate investment and control of our natural resources by the US. We sat on our hands when Russia took over Crimea under Obama and took more territory under Biden. We allowed provinces to put up trade barriers between them, let the US defend us militarily, and we lost our reputation as a secure participant in the world.
We had a chance to put a true fighter for Canadian’s in the ring with Trump, instead we put the card girl in the ring to patiently walk around holding up the round numbers, looking in control but having absolutely no effect on the outcome. Why wouldn’t Trump think that the fruit we call Canada, is ripe for the taking?
We need more than a sign from Carney, we need real action.We are four months away from opening the CUSMA negotiations of 2026 ,will Carney still be waiting to seriously start negotiations? Perhaps Trump is using Carney’s negotiating style with Russia?
Trump can hardly be too critical, or too demanding, of Putin given that the US, even in recent history, has been the most aggressive superpower with their illegal war in Iraq (more than 1M killed), their involvement in Afghanistan and their illegal occupation in parts of Syria. Criticism of Russia would be the pot calling the kettle black. With regard to Ukraine, the main instigator here is NATO, supported over the years by a succession of US Presidents. For the last several years NATO has pushed further and further towards the Russian border, installing US missiles pointing toward Moscow. This despite an agreement not to. Putin is drawing a line in the sand and advancement into Ukraine is securing Russia’s border, the same as any other superpower would do. At the end of the day, this conflict is not about Ukraine, they are just a pawn in the power game. NATO wants to destabilize Russia, and Russia knows that. Trump also knows that, and he would do the same if he found the US in the same position. So, Russia will not agree to let Ukraine join NATO, understandably, and Russia will insist on keeping that part of Ukraine it has taken, again understandably. A lot of that territory is Russian speaking and pro-Russia. The biggest war mongers in this conflict are in Europe, especially the UK, and those are the ones that should be reigned in.
As far as Carney and Canada is concerned, who knows where we will end up. Carney is not here for Canada or Canadians. Carney doesn’t believe in democracy. He’s a globalist and the welfare of Canadians, and our sovereignty is not his priority. Canada’s future is very uncertain under Carney. The only question in my mind now is will we end up being controlled by a New World Order as defined by the US or a New World Order as defined by some other global-run group, like the WEF, of which Carney is a high-ranking official.
We need to mind our own business concerning Ukraine. Quit sending billions over there. Look after Canadians first!!!
Simply put…Correct Hugh plus Trump has to go.
I agree with the comments by Dale and Brian and most of Hugh’s article. Trump is not smart or educated. Almost all of his businesses have failed. He IS a gangster…erratic, cruel, corrupt, and IMO evil. There’s solid evidence about his Epstein file connections including the old photos, videos and many checks written from him to Epstein, that he’s a pedophile. He makes Tony Soprano look like an innocent choir boy, so yes Hugh, please do go that far.
And please stop wondering aloud if Mark Carney knows what he’s doing and has the capabilities to do the best that anyone on the planet could do with such a crazy adversary as Trump. The power Trump has makes it very difficult, if not impossible for Canada to come out relatively economically unscathed. I don’t believe our actual sovereignty will be lost, although the trade stuff is definitely going to cost us..
In past commentaries you’ve said its not a good idea to ‘poke the bear’. Carney’s more diplomatic comments, ( than say, Doug Ford’s), I believe are part of that strategy not to get Trump riled up and retaliate – his frequent reaction.
You’ve said here, and before, that Canadians need and deserve to know what’s going on. Of course, but dealing with Trump is like navigating a minefield that changes by the day. It’s going to take a very long time, possibky until a U.S. election, and requires secret strategies.
It’s all very frustrating but Canadians will need patience! Our PM and the premiers are working on diversifying our trade partners and more of a cross-Canada economy. Negotiations and regulations for that all take ( a ridiculous amount of ) a long time due to built in systemic inertia. I sure hope Pierre Poilievre doesn’t get back into the fray to do nothing but naysay and criticize everything that the rest of the country tries to accomplish to shield ourselves as much as possible from interdependence with the U S.
Make America great again??? America was great when it stood for human rights, rule of law, respect for the UN Charter, taxation where the ultra-rich paid their fair share, and mutually beneficial fair trade. Trump and Putin are indeed like-minded against all those things.
But ultimately, they will lose. They cannot have a viable economy by ignoring escalating climate change and by clinging too long to rapidly depleting finite reserves of oil and gas. Ignoring those basics will ultimately bring Trump and Putin and their ilk to their knees.
Hopefully, by standing together, NATO leaders, PM Carney and the Europeans, can get Trump to see the light.
Olga Nesterova says, “These two are friends. Period. End of story. I’ve covered a variety of summits, and I know what admiration looks like. That’s the end of world order as we knew it. A sad day for everyone.” Hmmm….”No s**t Sherlock! I think the entire world knows that!”
What we don’t know is whether Trump is demented or just evil; stupid or a twisted genius. His erratic speech and memory lapses seem like cognitive decline. But his manipulation of the media suggests that he’s cunning and his ability to dominate the narrative suggest shrewdness.
It’s hard to get a handle on Trump because he is both calculating and erratic, both ignorant and skilled, both weak and domineering. That blend keeps people debating whether he’s dangerous because of incompetence, malevolence, or some form of “chaotic genius.”
But we do know Mr. Carney. He’s smart, disciplined, pragmatic, and globally minded in a contrast to populist, impulsive leaders like Trump. Where Trump thrives on chaos, Carney thrives on order and careful planning. Let’s not count him out as able to shrewdly manage the Mango Mussolini.
To say we have differing views is an understatement. Your comment – “…Trump and Putin appeared more like old buddies than the adversaries or opponents they are supposed to be…”
IMO this is likely true and represents a very positive situation with huge potential, not a negative. Many (or most?) Ukrainians on average absolutely hate Russians and this will not easily change. The best result I believe would be to divide Ukraine along ethnic lines, as it is a false construct created many years ago by the USSR for governing reasons, which no longer applies.
If this is not done I don’t believe Ukraine will even exist 5-10 years from now.
This is so inline with my thoughts about trump…(lower case on purpose)…what does Putin and Russia have on trump that makes him such a Putin patsy…last week he was all bluster and bravado as to how he would deal with Putin….then they meet in Alaska and trump greets Vlad the Invader with a red carpet welcome…after their so-called face to face trump now once again was maybe reminded about what the Kremlin might have to reveal if trump doesn’t toe the Moscow line… so let’s be honest…trump is not a smart man….Putin is….It’s rather like our Prime Minister having to deal with donald….a Brainiac dealing with a mainiac…does Moscow have revealing video of trump?…does Moscow have documents that Moscow financed trump after Swiss Banque and all other Western banks would not??? I just wish that I will live long enough to have these truths become public… Meanwhile I, like a lot of Canadians do not have a problem with the American people…most if not all I have met and dealt with during my time in this planet are good people…but I do have a problem with a majority of Americans who would vote for your leader such a disgusting, and immoral man as your Commander in Chief…