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Or sign-in if you have an account.U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable on agriculture at Custer Farms on June 05, 2026 in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)Canada is entering vital trade talks with the U.S. and Mexico, with intense activity in Ottawa and a general sense in the rest of the country that anything could happen so why spoil the summer?Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorDominic LeBlanc and Janice Charette, two respected figures with years of high-level expertise, have been preparing the ground for months, and express cautious optimism that negotiations will produce an agreement satisfactory to all.They should be taken at their word, given they’re closest to the situation and have been in contact with counterparts in Washington and Mexico City on a regular basis.This newsletter from NP Comment tackles the topics you care about. (Subscriber-exclusive edition on Fridays)By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againOn a purely political level, however, there’s cause to question their prospects — and, by extension, Canada’s economy. In a normal world negotiators like LeBlanc and Charette would anticipate conferring with a sensible, reasonable, reliable and trustworthy U.S. administration, with a shared goal of nailing down a pact representing the best interests of all three countries.But we know that doesn’t exist. It hasn’t existed since Day One of the second Trump presidency, and is particularly absent now that the administration has the look of a wounded animal, its popularity tanking and defeats piling up on one front after another. When frightened critters feel cornered, they’re apt to lash out at the closest target. What’s more vulnerable than a well-meaning Canadian with a hopeful smile and a thick wedge of trade issues to discuss?Positioning for the U.S. mid-term elections is well underway and prospects aren’t great for the incumbent Republicans. Primary votes were held in six states last week. Five months out from November is much too early to reliably predict how the results will play out, but if Donald Trump’s luck is anything like it’s been of late his advisors should be on 24/7 crisis alert.For weeks now the White House has faced one setback after another. It signalled a retreat under extreme pressure on its effort to establish a US$1.8 billion fund widely seen as a slush fund for rewarding friends and supporters of the president; a court ordered Trump to remove his name from the John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts, declaring it “crystal clear” Congress intended the building to be named for Kennedy alone; the announced lineup for a Trump-affiliated mega-bash on America’s 250th birthday mostly refused to show up, declaring they’d been misled; and Trump’s rebuild of the demolished White House east wing remains under dispute.America’s foreign adventures are similarly in trouble. The president was recently caught cursing out his friend and ally Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel’s ongoing battering of Lebanon, while the war in Iran looks increasingly like a mistake waiting to be admitted. Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted to a Congressional hearing that the war “is over” even though the regime remains in place, there’s no change to its nuclear aims, the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, American guns are still firing at Iranian targets and Iran is sending missiles at its neighbours. A U.S. “victory” now means getting a peace deal from an enemy Trump originally threatened to erase from the Earth.The only war the president seems unwilling to fight — the one started by Russia — looks increasingly to be going Ukraine’s way in spite of a cold shoulder from Washington.Donald Trump has risen from more ashes than the ruins of Pompeii, so it’s dangerous to predict his demise, but as losing streaks go he’s easily surpassed plenty of previous presidents. His rages are more frequent and less effective; the length and frequency of his Truth Social outpourings speak to a soul in turmoil. His popularity is at new depths, with a recent poll showing a plus rating at 38 per cent against a negative rating of 58 per cent, worse than the Biden administration he continues to denigrate.His struggles have opened visible cracks in the fear factor that allowed him to impose his will on Republicans in Congress. The Wall Street Journal reported a sense of “raw fury” in the GOP-controlled Senate over Trump’s intrusion into primary contests, which saw several seasoned and reliable Republicans defeated by more MAGA-friendly challengers with less certainty of re-election in November. The result is a threat to the administration’s three-vote Senate cushion from a growing cadre of upset Republicans who feel bushwacked by the administration and unwilling to help rescue it from his various headaches.This is the cauldron Ottawa’s envoys will be entering with their pleas for a break from tariff rules altered at whim, existential threats to Canada’s auto industry, repeated assaults on lumber exports and a host of other concerns. The goal, says Charette, is “the lowest possible tariffs on the narrowest basket of goods with the most market ‌access for Canadian products.”As if that wasn’t challenging enough, the outcome remains hostage to the possibility Washington could quickly renege on everything it’s agreed on.That’s the real faultline in an already uncertain exercise. A president who has never been known for his honesty, consistency, reliability, adherence to contracts or the value of his word, is feeling besieged, unappreciated and badly in need of a victory. Success to Trump means finding an opponent he can crush. There’s no win-win-win in the White House lexicon. Compromise is for losers. Making America great means putting other powers in their place, and hopefully humiliating them in the process.Canada makes an easy target. No bombs are required from the dwindling U.S. armaments supply. The Oval Office is occupied by a man who already feels threatened and could be even more so by November. Canada’s negotiators should pursue the talks with minimal expectations and a detailed plan for dealing with the fallout of a trade regime turned to dust.National Post Join the Conversation This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.