Trudeau comes out swinging

Or, he gets three big punches in, but shadow boxing

The Prime Minister, flanked by three Cabinet Ministers, held a press conference on the morning of March 4 to announce the Canadian government’s response to the imposition of US tariffs.

He came out swinging. This was Trudeau the boxer, on his toes.

He aimed three big roundhouses.

The very first, right off the top, was aimed at the Trump administration as a whole, that bizarre coterie of loyalists, weirdos, and the under-qualified. He said the US has launched a trade war against its closest partner, ally and best friend, all the while talking about working positively with Russia, appeasing Putin. Make that make sense, he said. Trudeau reminded the Trump White House, as President Zelenskky had tried to do in his own way, that Putin is a murderous, lying dictator. Well, I hope the message gets through to the likes of Tulsi Gabbard, JD Vance, Mike Waltz and all the etc.

The second punch was aimed at the gut of the American people. Canadian counter-tariffs, Trudeau indicated, was never a shot we wanted to take. But they are going to wind you, make you feel queasy, spill your breakfast. He didn’t put it in so many words. What he did say was that the impacts of Canadian counter-tariffs are to be blamed on your own government—Trump chose to do this to you. He also reminded Americans that there was no justification for the tariffs, no legal pretext, that Trump was lying about there being any significant flow of fentanyl or illegal migrants across the Canadian border to the United States.

Despite the border being secure, Canada responded to US concerns, including from the President, committed a big chunk of money ($1.3 billion), beefed up monitoring and enforcement, put fancy toys at the border. And, Trudeau said, its working. He told Americans that Canada “stepped up;” “stuck to our word.” Implication your President did not.

The third swing was to the chin of the Donald. Trudeau didn’t refer to him as The President or Mr. President, just “Donald.” Lese majeste! Cue up howls from the rabid right wing media in the US. This was almost a worse afront than failing to wear a suit. Trudeau reminded Donald that over the course of their respective political careers, “we have done great things together.” Note to Trudeau speech writers—Donald’s memory and grasp of history is not the best (but it doesn’t matter). The PM then went on to really power it in, quoting and agreeing with the Wall Street Journal--that “Donald—this is a very dumb thing to do.”

Then finally, he turned to the Canadian people, not with a punch, but a promise, hopefully not a fairy-tale. American tariffs will be tough, he said, no sugar-coating, but the government will be there to support you.

Probably the most unscripted thing that Trudeau had to say, which came out in the brief Q and A with the media, was that what Trump wants to see with the tariffs is a total collapse of the Canadian economy, which would make it easier for Trump to annex us. Not going to happen, he said.

The champ won that round. It was a great performance. Every big swing needed to be taken.

But the opponent was a shadow.

Stay tuned for Donald the Don’s speech to Congress tonight.