I’ve been writing posts about current politics, then shelving them because I wanted to wait for more information. Time to get some of them off my phone. This one was written at the end of November.

It was a bold political move, high risk but with the potential for high reward. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau traveled to Florida on Friday (November 29) to talk tariffs with US president-elect Donald Trump.

With an election looming, Trudeau is desperate for something, anything that will improve his standings in the polls. Convincing Trump to drop his announced across-the-board 25 per cent tariff on Canadian products would make Trudeau look like a hero.

He didn’t get it, at least not immediately. And a lot can change before Trump’s inauguration January 20. At least though, Trudeau looked like he was doing something.

Those tariffs would harm the economies of both countries, so Trump may be willing to listen. Certainly though he got Trudeau’s attention and a commitment to deal with the issue of border security. Given Trudeau’s liking for open borders, that is a big deal.

Supposedly the two men don’t like each other (I think because they are too much alike), which means it is tough to say whether Trump will modify his plans. He probably enjoyed having Trudeau burn all that jet fuel for the 24-hour trip, once again reminding us that Trudeau believes carbon reduction is for other people.

Trump knows where Trudeau stands in the polls He has no incentive to make concessions to someone he doesn’t expect to have around much longer. It probably amused him to have Trudeau make the trip, and then to suggest that Canada would be better off as the 51st state of the USA than remaining an independent country. (More on that in a future post.)

Furthermore, Trump has surely heard how Trudeau has been labeling his political opponents as Trump-like. Which is problematic, given that Trudeau means it as an insult.

The Canada-US relationship is hugely important to both countries, though Trump probably doesn’t realize that. Trudeau knows it, but is probably so consumed with saving his political life that it never occurred to him that insulting Trump may not have been a good idea.

Which has me thinking that no matter what concessions Trudeau makes, Trump is not going to do anything that would look like a political victory for the Canadian Prime Minister. Trump may not know Canadian Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre, but he probably thinks he can work with someone considered Trump-like. (For the record, I think Trudeau and Trump are very much alike. Poilievre is considerably less Trump-like.)

So what did Trudeau get from his trip to Florida? Well, the food was probably pretty good. And he got to fly on that Canadian government executive jet. He likes that plane – and, if the polls are right, he won’t be using it much longer.