President Donald Trump mocked transgender people in front of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, whose child identifies as nonbinary, during an Oval Office meeting in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday that was intended to focus on trade relations but instead became a showcase of Trump’s familiar culture war politics.
The meeting, held in the presence of reporters, aimed to emphasize renewed cooperation between the two countries, which remain deeply economically intertwined. But as The Independent reported, it “devolved into a political rally disguised as a routine press availability.” Trump repeatedly veered off topic to attack Democrats, the media, and transgender people, boasting that under his leadership, “We have strong borders. We have no men in women’s sports. We’re not going to take your child away and change the sex of your child.”
As much as Canadians would like to say fuck off to all things American, cutting ties like that would cripple us economically and potentially result in the destruction of our country. Tanking our economy to spite the States would not only destroy lives, but it would give Danielle Smith more fodder for AB separation, which in turn would result in a broken Canada, and eventually no Canada at all.
At the very least, Carney still needs to “play nice” for the moment, and I’m really hoping once things are in place with other markets he publically tells Trump to pound sand. I’m saving my judgement for the end of his first year. He’s arguably got the hardest road of any PM in decades. That said, I really wish he’d put his elbows back up.