'The (Trump) administration’s behaviour towards Canada has been self-destructive and foolish,' said one U.S. Republican congressman.

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By: Randy Essex

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Dear Canadians: Can we still be friends?

Part of the upheaval since my countrymen decided the world hadn’t suffered enough of Donald Trump has been his confounding attacks on our very good neighbor, trading partner and ally.

Our president has imposed tariffs and threatened still more. He’s ridiculously bellowed that Canada should be a U.S. state, accused you of ripping us off and of being a source of fentanyl.

Of the concerns many of us had about his return to power, we didn’t see this coming.

To be absolutely clear, it’s him, not us. Pew Research Center polling in the spring of 2025 showed that — despite Trump’s months of attacks, 74 per cent of Americans have a favorable view of Canada.

“Americans are perplexed,” said James Blanchard, the former Michigan congressman and governor who was U.S. ambassador to Canada from 1993-96: “What did Canadians do to us?”

Blanchard is a Democrat, but Americans’ bewilderment is bipartisan.

“The administration’s behavior towards Canada has been self-destructive and foolish,” Don Bacon, a Republican congressman from Nebraska, told me. A retired U.S. Air Force brigadier general, Bacon has been critical of Trump’s approach to Ukraine and NATO.

“Making threats, even if in jest, about invading Canada and calling Canada’s prime minister a 51st governor........

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