After President Trump imposed tariffs on Canada on Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a unprecedented assertion that was largely misplaced within the fray of the second.
“The excuse that he’s giving for these tariffs immediately of fentanyl is totally bogus, utterly unjustified, utterly false,” Mr. Trudeau instructed the information media in Ottawa.
“What he needs is to see a complete collapse of the Canadian financial system, as a result of that’ll make it simpler to annex us,” he added.
That is the story of how Mr. Trudeau went from considering Mr. Trump was joking when he referred to him as “governor” and Canada as “the 51st state” in early December to publicly stating that Canada’s closest ally and neighbor was implementing a method of crushing the nation as a way to take it over.
The February Calls
Mr. Trump and Mr. Trudeau spoke twice on Feb. 3, as soon as within the morning and once more within the afternoon, as a part of discussions to stave off tariffs on Canadian exports.
However these early February calls weren’t nearly tariffs.
The main points of the conversations between the 2 leaders, and subsequent discussions amongst high U.S. and Canadian officers, haven’t been beforehand absolutely reported, and have been shared with The New York Instances on situation of anonymity by 4 individuals with firsthand information of their content material. They didn’t need to be publicly recognized discussing a delicate subject.
On these calls, President Trump laid out an extended listing of grievances he had with the commerce relationship between the 2 international locations, together with Canada’s protected dairy sector, the issue American banks face in doing enterprise in Canada and Canadian consumption taxes that Mr. Trump deems unfair as a result of they make American items costlier.
He additionally introduced up one thing way more basic.
He instructed Mr. Trudeau that he didn’t consider that the treaty that demarcates the border between the 2 international locations was legitimate and that he needs to revise the boundary. He supplied no additional rationalization.
The border treaty Mr. Trump referred to was established in 1908 and finalized the worldwide boundary between Canada, then a British dominion, and america.
Mr. Trump additionally talked about revisiting the sharing of lakes and rivers between the 2 nations, which is regulated by a lot of treaties, a subject he’s expressed curiosity about up to now.
Canadian officers took Mr. Trump’s feedback critically, not least as a result of he had already publicly mentioned he wished to convey Canada to its knees. In a information convention on Jan. 7, earlier than being inaugurated, Mr. Trump, responding to a query by a New York Instances reporter about whether or not he was planning to make use of navy pressure to annex Canada, mentioned he deliberate to make use of “financial pressure.”
The White Home didn’t reply to a request for remark.
Through the second Feb. 3 name, Mr. Trudeau secured a one-month postponement of these tariffs.
This week, the U.S. tariffs got here into impact and not using a recent reprieve on Tuesday. Canada, in return, imposed its personal tariffs on U.S. exports, plunging the 2 nations right into a commerce struggle. (On Thursday, Mr. Trump granted Canada a monthlong suspension on many of the tariffs.)
Glimpses of the rupture between Mr. Trump and Mr. Trudeau, and of Mr. Trump’s aggressive plans for Canada, have been changing into obvious over the previous few months.
The Toronto Star, a Canadian newspaper, has reported that Mr. Trump talked about the 1908 border treaty within the early February name and different particulars from the dialog. And the Monetary Instances has reported that there are discussions within the White Home about eradicating Canada from an important intelligence alliance amongst 5 nations, attributing these to a senior Trump adviser.
Doubling Down
However it wasn’t simply the president speaking concerning the border and waters with Mr. Trudeau that disturbed the Canadian aspect.
The persistent social media references to Canada because the 51st state and Mr. Trudeau as its governor had begun to grate each contained in the Canadian authorities and extra broadly.
Whereas Mr. Trump’s remarks might all be bluster or a negotiating tactic to strain Canada into concessions on commerce or border safety, the Canadian aspect not believes that to be so.
And the belief that the Trump administration was taking a more in-depth and extra aggressive take a look at the connection, one which tracked with these threats of annexation, sank in throughout subsequent calls between high Trump officers and Canadian counterparts.
One such name was between Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick — who on the time had not but been confirmed by the Senate — and Canada’s finance minister, Dominic LeBlanc. The 2 males had been speaking commonly since that they had met at Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump’s house and membership in Florida, throughout Mr. Trudeau’s go to there in early December.
Mr. Lutnick referred to as Mr. LeBlanc after the leaders had spoken on Feb. 3, and issued a devastating message, in accordance with a number of individuals aware of the decision: Mr. Trump, he mentioned, had come to understand that the connection between america and Canada was ruled by a slew of agreements and treaties that have been simple to desert.
Mr. Trump was excited by doing simply that, Mr. Lutnick mentioned.
He wished to eject Canada out of an intelligence-sharing group often known as the 5 Eyes that additionally contains Britain, Australia and New Zealand.
He wished to tear up the Nice Lakes agreements and conventions between the 2 nations that lay out how they share and handle Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario.
And he’s additionally reviewing navy cooperation between the 2 international locations, notably the North American Aerospace Protection Command.
A spokesperson for Mr. Lutnick didn’t reply to a request for remark. A spokesperson for Mr. LeBlanc declined to remark.
In subsequent communications between senior Canadian officers and Trump advisers, this listing of subjects has come up many times, making it exhausting for the Canadian authorities to dismiss them.
The one soothing of nerves has come from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the 4 individuals aware of the matter mentioned. Mr. Rubio has kept away from delivering threats, and just lately dismissed the concept that america was scrapping navy cooperation.
However Canada’s politicians throughout the spectrum, and Canadian society at massive, are frayed and deeply involved. Officers don’t see the Trump administration’s threats as empty; they see a brand new regular on the subject of america.
On Thursday, at a information convention, a reporter requested Mr. Trudeau: “Your international affairs minister yesterday characterised all this as a psychodrama. How would you characterize it?”
“Thursday,” Mr. Trudeau quipped ruefully.
