So, this is one reason that I’m not convinced people moving to Canada will be “safe” from a MAGA-led USA. My wife and I love the BC area (Vancouver, Victoria, the islands around there). But I’m not sure if moving to Canada is far enough away from the madness. It sounds insane to say, but a MAGA-infused US could Trump up (no pun intended) some pretense to attack Canada or occupy parts of Canada.
I would call my concerns crazy. But what is MAGA if it isn’t crazy?
On the off-hand chance this works…
I’d like Canadians to know that if you re-elect Trudeau, we’ll all be just… like, so mad… like, flames. Flames, on the sides of our faces. Ooo! Just furious, every single one of us.
So you’d better not!
In my province? Not likely.
Let me guess; Alberta?
I agree, but the worry is that these lunatics are hateful, vengeful, dumb as shit, completely devoid of ethics, and happy to hurt anyone they don’t like just for spite. With the Canada-US free trade agreement up for renewal in two years, there’s lots of potential for these idiots to cause malicious economic harm. Even if it hurts their own economy, they’ll just tell their followers the opposite, and blame Trudeau and Biden for any bad consequences.
There’s also the prospect of causing big trouble at the border, which they’re already threatening. During the relatively mild previous Trump administration compared to the utter shit-show this one will be, the CPB was emboldened to deny entry to some Canadian citizens bearing valid Canadian passports because they were brown and might possibly be Muslim. The official line was that they needed a visa, which is something no Canadian citizen has ever needed to enter the US.
That’s just silly. This is where the chain of command breaks down, which it nearly did in the last Trump administration. This is where the 25th Amendment gets invoked. If you want to ponder doomsday scenarios, NATO will still exist, even if Trump pulls the US out, along with its responsibilities for mutual defense. The real, realistic fear is that Canada’s economy will take a hit and relations with the US will sour, as they probably will with most other countries in the world, excepting Russia and maybe North Korea, whose dictators are Trump’s idols and bestest friends.*
* Or so Trump thinks. I’m certain that Putin has nothing but contempt for him. But will also exploit the useful idiot to the max over issues like Ukraine.
Even without that, the tariffs they’ll likely impose will cause a downturn in our economy. Either we sell for less to offset the tariffs, so generating less revenue, or we lose sales as people decide things are too expensive. Either way, our revenue declines, and that has all sorts of follow-on effects, with probably all of them negative. Reduced working hours, lay offs, deferred raises, and all that.
That’s very closely related to the free trade agreement, though. Last time, Canadian negotiators were able to make the case that the economies are so tightly integrated that many tariffs would hurt both countries, and they listened. This time, the crazy may know no bounds. It might be like an adult trying to negotiate with a very angry, mentally deficient child who happens to be holding a gun.
True, but the renegotiation won’t happen for about two years. The tariffs could show up in less than two months.
They could just bomb those areas flat in the name of “national security” and occupy the rubble. And kill lots of brown people in the process, which to these bigots would be a bonus, not a problem.
But until then, the present agreement will be in force and its terms, including tariff-exempt goods, will have to be respected.
Wait – when has Trump ever respected anything? 
Yes, that’s the problem. Sure, there are mechanisms in the treaty to address such conflicts, but ultimately, the US has the physical power to collect tariffs, and we can’t stop them if they simply refuse to comply with a treaty ruling.
Our only recourse would be to pull out of the treaty ourselves, which would be economic suicide.
It certainly seems silly. Alot of the possibilities of a MAGA USA are ridiculous. But they’re not impossible anymore. Trump is going to create concentration camps for immigrants and turn the military loose, probably sweeping some US citizens in with the rest. He has talked before about sending troops into Mexican territory, and creating a “buffer” or going after drug-gangs with the US military. I don’t think he’ll attack Canada. But it’s not something that can be discounted anymore. He will certainly try to demonize Canada and hurt Canada’s economy, if only to spite Trudeau. We need to be careful about placing a limit on what we think Trump might do.
I think he will attempt to do #6, at least to a point. A mass deportation is coming, and the military will be used. It’s possible that some of his more business-friendly “friends” will try to talk him out of it. But I don’t see them being successful. Aside from Tariffs on everyone, this is the most often-cited thing that Trump has promised. I think he means it this time.
Somebody should remind Trump that America’s 250th is coming up which definitely merits a huge celebration and military parade which he will get to plan. That should keep him busy.
ISTR he has proposed a “great national state fair” for 2026 which would resemble a World’s Fair and include pavilions from all 50 states.
As much as it gags me to say anything positive about Frump that’s actually kind of a neat idea.
I mean, to me it sounds like something that would have existed pre-War in the Fallout universe; a jingoist celebration of capitalist excess collectively unaware of its own imminent demise.
Might be a good excuse to gorge on fried food, though.
A lovely oxymoron there.
No, it’s a national state World’s Fair! 
A great World’s Fair is in principle a fine idea, but with all such big ideas there is also the potential to screw it up and do it very badly, and screwing things up is something at which Trump is an expert without equal.
Many may not be feeling very patriotic by 2026, given the potential for violence from human rights violations like the immigrant crackdown and the likelihood of a tanking economy and rising inflation due to tariffs and general mismanagement.
If such a fair were to happen, it’s a virtual certainty that Trump will be unable to resist the temptation to exploit the event for massive grift and self-aggrandizement. One must remember the basic principle that can always be relied on: everything that Trump touches turns to shit.
I’m thinking that we’re going to see a lot of violence and civil unrest. Not started by Trumpers and MAGAts, but by progressives; who will take to the streets when Trump pushes through some executive order making them lesser citizens. Then, when MAGAts show up with their guns (cue Kyle Rittenhouse), the progressives will pull out their guns. Because they have them. Then, when Trump orders the military in, as he has threatened … well, I’d rather not think about that.