Canada preparing for ‘uncertainty’ of possible Trump term, Trudeau says

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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday that his government is preparing for the “uncertainty” that a hypothetical second term in office for former President Trump would bring to his country and to its alliance with the United States.

Trudeau’s Cabinet gathered at a Montreal retreat to discuss the prospect of Trump’s return to office in the 2024 presidential election and to prepare a strategy.

Trudeau said Trump “represents uncertainty,” but that his government was able to manage Trump during his first term by demonstrating the mutual economic benefit that a strong U.S.-Canada alliance would bring.

“We don’t know exactly what he is going to do,” Trudeau said. “We made it through the challenges represented by the Trump administration seven years ago, for four years, where we put forward the fact that Canada and the U.S. do best when we do it together.”

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U.S.-Canadian relations worsened during the Trump administration, in particular over Trump’s isolationist trade policies, which included new tariffs on steel and aluminum imported from Canada. Trump also called Trudeau “weak” and “dishonest” while in office.

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A recent poll suggests Canadians are concerned about the future of U.S. democracy. Nearly two-thirds said they are concerned that democracy would not survive another Trump term in the White House. Nearly 50 percent agreed with the statement that the U.S. is “on the way to becoming an authoritarian state.”

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