To hear Donald Trump tell it, Canada is a
suave international swindler, repeatedly conning American leaders and
waltzing away with his country's money.
The
U.S.'s neighbour to the north is "very smooth," has "outsmarted our
politicians for many years," and has been "very rough" as it has "taken
advantage" of the hapless superpower.
For
months, the U.S. President has painted this portrait of Canada as
Machiavellian manipulator in his public comments. Earlier this week, he
took it to a new level.
During
a meeting with state governors to discuss school safety, Mr. Trump went
on a lengthy digression about trade policy, rounding on his country's
partners in the North American free-trade agreement, which is being
renegotiated this week in Mexico City. Mr. Trump accused the slick
Canadians of trying to trick him into believing the deal is working
well.
"We cannot continue to lose
that kind of money with one country. We lose a lot with Canada. People
don't know it," he said. "Canada's very smooth: They have you believe
that it's wonderful, and it is – wonderful for them. Not wonderful for
us."
This doesn't exactly jibe with the Great
White North's usual image – the guileless neighbourhood nice guy, maybe
a little quietly insecure next to his hyper-confident next-door
neighbour.
"'Canada is very smooth.' – Donald Trump," tweeted CNN pundit Chris Cillizza. "No one has ever said this about Canada before. Not ever. Never."
In
the Reputation Institute's 2017 list of the best-regarded countries, an
annual survey of 39,000 people in the world's 55 largest economies,
Canada scored high on perceptions of public safety, ethics, effective
government and favourable business climate. The country topped the list,
just ahead of Switzerland and Sweden. (The U.S. was 38th, between
Mexico and Venezuela.)
"It's both an
unusual and exaggerated take," Stephen Hahn-Griffiths, Reputation
Institute's executive partner and chief research officer, said of Mr.
Trump's apparent image of Canada. "Outside of, maybe, some stand-up
comics, there's no one with any substance who would characterize Canada
in such a disparaging light."
Christopher
Sands, director of the Center for Canadian Studies at Johns Hopkins
University, said Mr. Trump's comments serve a political purpose: The
Trudeau government has been lobbying free-trade-friendly governors and
members of Congress, and encouraging them to pressure the White House to
drop its protectionist demands in NAFTA talks. What Mr. Trump is trying
to do, Mr. Sands argued, is drive a wedge between those American
politicians and their new Canadian best friends.
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