Donald Trump was elected to fix the border and lower the price of gas and eggs (the price of gas actually doesn’t impact me as I own an electric vehicle). However, he’s now wandered into the space of naked manifest destiny-styled imperialism despite convincing most of us he was an anti-war isolationist (I’m not fond of anti-war isolationists so that may explain why I voted for Kamala Harris even if the Democrats are now as so many liked to claim on social media, the party of Liz and Dick Cheney 🙂).

Trump’s comments of the last few weeks about Canada and Panama have a particular resonance here in Florida (The Greenland thing while dangerous is not of concern to our state).

Beyond Trump’s plans destroying American credibility in trying to enforce the rules-based order that Russia and North Korea among others constantly violate and  constituting the first territorial grab by the west since World War II (I know people on the left go on and on about western imperialism but as it stands, every conflict involving a western nation since 1945 was either a defensive colonial war like Malaya, the Falklands and Angola among others or purported wars of liberation like Vietnam and Iraq- and even if you disagree with that being the premise, you must admit the US didn’t seek to annex either country), this will completely destroy the western alliance system.

Oh and I truly believe most of this is being done for Elon Musk to further his plutocracy just like Trump’s fealty to him on the ridiculous HB-1 visa program (more on that in the near future, I have VERY strong views on it). Musk wants resources and mineral wealth easily accessible. It’s why he’s so pro-Russian when it comes to Ukraine and eyes western Canada and Greenland. Musk is a Canadian citizen by the way, but might have an easier time extracting said resources from a highly-corruptible US administration than any Canadian one. 

But enough about that, how will it impact Florida…

A lot of Americans are deeply ignorant about the neighbor to the north, but as someone who has been forced to work with Canadians professionally now for the better part of 15 years and who also lives in Florida so have dealt with Canadians on a personal level my whole life since they love this state, I have perspectives on this many don’t have. 

It doesn’t matter how much time and money Canadians spend in Florida, I’d argue about 90% of Canadians do not want to be part of the US – the few that do are a distinct minority. Most Canadians I know have long been concerned about US cultural imperialism and its impact on Canadian everyday life- and have been upset that Canada is often treated as an economic colony by the US. This is partly why Canada, even when run by the Conservative Party, has deepened its ties with the EU and reinforced its Britishness in a sense – even if just from a cultural point of view. 

Canadians have often cited the history of Canadian Bell and Nortel as a case study in how the US economically treated Canada as a colony. I must admit that particular case is fairly convincing. 

For Florida this represents a potential threat to our interests. Canadian tourism is one of the things that fuels Florida’s economy. Will the hostility Trump is openly displaying toward Canada impact Florida? We don’t know yet.

And what about the Panama Canal? Trump’s comments about China’s alleged influence in the canal are humorous given his own history of caving to the Chinese during his first term, but anything that is provocative toward Panama does impact Florida. So we must keep an eye out on this.