What Donald Trump is really trying to distract us from by threatening Canada
Even as Donald Trump has mostly remained out of public view since the election, he’s also been rather quiet on social media. There are daily posts in his name on Truth Social, but most of them have been generic stuff that was obviously posted by his handlers. Trump, for his part, has largely faded from public existence.
The reason for this strategy is obvious: he’s so far gone cognitively that when he does occasionally interact with the outside world, he comes off very poorly. But this strategy hasn’t been working well for him at all. Trump made a number of idiotic cabinet nominations that even the Republican Senate has been hesitant to touch. Gaetz is gone. Hegseth is hanging on by a thread. It’s all falling apart for Trump, so he went on Meet The Press this past weekend to try to turn things around, but instead laid an egg.
So now Trump is doing what he’s always done: he’s trying to distract everyone from his weakness and failure by giving the media and the public something else to feast on. For the second time, Trump has dismissively referred to Canada as a “state” and Justin Trudeau as a “governor.” The obvious implication is that Trump sees Canada as subservient to the United States, and perhaps even a potential acquisition target. It’s set off all kinds of controversy and condemnation, as it should – but that was also the goal.
Suddenly the conversation has shifted from “Trump is too weak and stupid to pick a confirmable cabinet and too senile to help his nominees survive” to “Trump is so dangerously and powerfully out of control that he’s threatening to annex Canada.” It’s exactly what Trump wanted. He wants the conversation to be about how dangerously powerful he is. It doesn’t matter whether Trump is being praised or condemned for flexing his muscles, so long as the conversation is about how he’s flexing his muscles. As opposed to how he’s so laughably inept that he can’t even get his own party’s Senate to confirm his stupid cabinet picks.
As much as Trump’s remarks about Canada are offensive and dangerous and insane and must be pushed back against, at the same time we can’t take the bait. Trump wants us to focus on how dangerously powerful he is. We can’t afford to give him what he wants. Instead of allowing the discussion to shift to Trump’s threats against Canada, we should simply point out that Trump is too senile to even find Canada on a map, and shift the conversation back to how incredibly weak he is for tripping over his own lame cabinet picks.
We can’t afford to play Trump’s game. He wants us focused on his remarks about Canada, which means we shouldn’t focus on it. With someone like Trump, you never put the focus on what he wants it to be, and you always put the focus on what he’s trying to distract you from. Now more than ever, Trump’s cabinet debacle is the story. Trump’s failing transition period is the story. Trump’s inability to go out there and make his case is the story. Trump’s dementia is the story. Trump’s weakness is the story. Everything else is just calculated noise.
