We must stop provoking Trump
HE’S A SHALLOW, IGNORANT, NARCISSISTIC BULLY. — JOHN ROBSON
It’s not obvious whether we should laugh or cry at the bizarre G7 abuse-fest that erupted from Donald Trump. But while Trudeau is generally out of his depth as prime minister, he didn’t elect Trump and there’s not a lot he can do about the fact that somebody else did. The question is, is he doing what he can?
Somehow opinions remain bizarrely divided on Trump. Forget the large number of Canadians for whom despising “the Donald” is a classic virtue-signalling cheap thrill they also indulged with both Bushes and Reagan. But many otherwise sound conservatives continue to insist he’s crazy like a fox and if he’s personally loathsome it doesn’t matter.
It does. He’s a shallow, ignorant, narcissistic bully, and woe betide the civilization that mocks honour. And while this counter-cultural Frankenstein’s monster, an appalling pastiche of libido, self-absorption and postmodern contempt for truth, might serve the liberals right if the damage could be contained, it can’t.
When Trump mashes together legitimate complaints about foreign protectionism with mouldy mercantilism, paranoia and ignorance, it threatens to bring down the rule-based structure of partially free trade constructed since 1945. And when he goes off on a close ally with terms like “dishonest & weak” it puts the Western alliance under strains it can ill afford ever, let alone given challenges from North Korea and Iran to China. Ditto claiming to want Russia back in the G8.
Even so, the G7 seemed to be going smoothly, and the NAFTA negotiations appeared salvageable, until Trump got to his Twitter account and went nuts. So what was Trudeau meant to do about it? My short answer is, recognize who you’re dealing with and don’t condescend to him.
Trump is what he is, even if we struggle to put a name on it, especially in a family newspaper. Yet Trudeau and the other G7ites seem to have engaged in a strangely juvenile combination of political correctness, denial and devotion to empty routine in a situation where it is very hard to believe a rational person would have thought it a good idea.
Trudeau’s even wore his trademark smirk while commenting on the trade issue. And if there’s a better way to bring out Trump’s worst side I don’t know it. Nor would I be looking for it if I were in the PM’s entourage. But if I were hunting trouble, I’d say “Let’s bring Trump to a pompous international gabfest and try to stuff left-wing clichés down his throat to show how grand we are.”
On Saturday, Trudeau, or his spokes twit, released this gaseous cloud: “Today at the @g7, I sat down with Chancellor Merkel to talk about a wide variety of global issues that we can continue to work on together — in particular, we focused on promoting gender equality, clean energy, and preparing our citizens & economies for jobs of the future.” Whether they really exchanged such banalities or just wanted us to think they did, it’s pretty discouraging. And exactly the sort of mush liable to set Trump off.
Then there’s the importance smug summiteers attach to vacuous “consensus” statements that reflect neither reality nor a shared delusion about it. As Abba Eban quipped, “A consensus means that everyone agrees to say collectively what no one believes individually.” What a thing to dangle in front of Trump. His eagerness to set cats among pigeons in ways previous presidents avoided may be a strength, a weakness or both. But it’s unquestionably prominent. He reacts to “It’s just not done” like a bull to a matador’s cape. Except he surprisingly often gets the matador.
So here’s the question? Why drag him to such a gathering and offer him the Kool-Aid? The answer to the first part might be, “He’s the U.S. president. We can’t just ‘forget’ to invite him.” But the second is more troubling. Whose idea was it to try to smother this petulant man-child in a sweet-smelling G7 baby blanket then strut home as the statespersons who tamed the vile American hick?
Trudeau, Macron and others didn’t just virtue
signal about Trump. They virtue-signalled at him. Americans have long endured jibes from allies about their culture and politics and maybe the grown-up thing was to ignore it. But Trump has very obviously abandoned this long-standing American habit. And when a two-year-old throws a tantrum, do you join in?
Thus I’m also unimpressed by our unanimous parliamentary motion saying U.S. tariffs stink while our supply management is glorious. If your goal is to worsen the quarrel while striking a noble pose, you nailed it. If it’s to protect Canada’s self-interest, not so much.
I’m not saying it’s easy to deal with Trump or it’s Trudeau’s fault he’s president. But he is, and it’s time to play the adult in dealing with him.