How is Donald Trump viewed in Canada?

Dear Friends:

Aside from 'Reddit' your faithful reporter is also a regular reader and contributor to a site called 'Quora' ......and much like the aforementioned hangout, it has its own particular brand of crazies and fanatics.......  but also a bunch of reasonably sane and thoughtful individuals who contribute some interesting stuff!

One of the best questions I have seen (perhaps because it's close to my heart) in quite a while is this:

How is Donald Trump viewed in Canada?

There are a few answers here so it might be a bit long....... but please remember that while some Americans might be offended, the majority of them (Just like you and !?) won't take it personally!

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Victoria Napora

I have not entered the USA since 2016 and have no plans to ever cross again.

I and millions of other rational, thinking Canadians, were stunned that such a vulgar, lying, cheating, scamming, self-serving, crude, bigoted bully got elected. I had checked into his past and could not find ONE single redeeming factor that would cause one to vote for this wannabe dictator. I watched his hate-fest rallies and could not believe my eyes with his rabid crowd shouting ‘lock her up’ and ranting against anyone who didn’t fall down and worship the Hitler wannabe. But here we are……

I was absolutely incensed when the tinpot dictator implemented tariffs on Canadian steel & aluminum with the ridiculous excuse that Canada was a ‘security threat’. During the NAFTA negotiations, trump & his lackeys said there was a ‘special place in hell’ for us Canadians. And Mad King Donald didn’t want to negotiate with Ms. Freeland because ‘he didn’t like her’.
Trump also ragged on Canada (and other NATO countries) for not paying ‘our share’ of the NATO standard of 2% GDP for OUR own defences. He even had the temerity to present Chancellor Merkel with an ‘invoice.’

He has called our PM two-faced, mean, nasty and a cowardly — all PERFECT description of trump himself.

Most disheartening was all the shouts of “YEA trump…you tell ’em POTUS” etc. and all the comments disparaging our government leaders and Canadians in general by his now entrenched KULT.

They forget that it was the Canadian Embassy personnel that protected, hid and assisted in the evacuation of the US Embassy workers during the Tehran uprising. (I’m talking to you, Ben Affleck and your Movie ‘Argo’ which basically ignored all the Canadians who risked their own lives to protect the US citizens). They have forgotten how the people of Gander NFLD took in and sheltered and fed thousands (6700) of stranded US citizens in the aftermath of 9/11.

They ALL forget that ONLY one country has ever invoked Article 5 of the NATO agreement. That country was the USA after 9/11 and every single NATO country stepped up with support and even troops for the USA. Trump has refused to sign on to Article 5 and continues to demean NATO countries… WHY?? Because NATO was formed to present a unified front against Russian aggression. Anyone who doesn’t think that this pile of dog excrement isn’t Putin’s puppet is delusional, to say the least.

The list goes on. I am horrified and dismayed at what is happening in the USA. When trump ‘stole’ the election, I predicted that the USA would end up a familial dictatorship or in a civil war. It is looking like I was not so far off with that prediction.

Even more stupefying are the actions and total DERELICTION of the sworn oaths of office of the members of the new ‘party to protect dictator trump’, formerly known at the republican party. I’ve always felt that one had to have pretty low standards to become a politician (in any country), but the blatant, open and ongoing corruption, self-serving, lies and deflections by these spineless sycophants in order to support and defend the most corrupt, lying, cheating, scamming, self-dealing, ignorant, vulgar, petty, vindictive, cruel, bigoted, unamerican, unchristian, power abusing, tyrannical wannabe dictator is beyond my comprehension.

Welcome to the banana republic of trumplandia. To me, it is becoming more and more obvious that the USA is a failed experiment in democracy. :(( :((

Please note: I do not post these things because I have TDS, or I am ‘mean’ or upset because HRC didn’t win - you are 100% WRONG! I get a sick feeling every time I turn on the news and see that the latest debacle happening in the USA because what happens to our closest neighbour will surely affect us and right now, it is looking pretty darn frightening.

WOW! Thanks to you all who took the time to comment & upvote my reply. It gives me some hope that all is not lost and that the USA can actually recover from this trainwreck/sh***show of trump & his court of clowns, court jesters and ‘enforcers’.

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Rick Thomas

I lived my first 20 years of my life in Canada always believing that the USA was a better place to be and sincerely believed that an education in the States would give me the skills that I needed to fully succeed.

I sold my business and paid my way as an international student gaining two master's degrees in two different universities. The education was great, but very US-centric and far too centred on economic principles that I did not agree with.

Travelled all over the world, lived in the Caribbean for 7 years, purchased a home in Florida and then another in Nevada. I thought things were pretty good, until the election of Obama, whom I supported and was thrilled. Until -

I did my rounds visiting clients all through the southern states getting all sorts of weird responses from them (anger and talks of a revolution were common) and finally had a meeting with a client in Las Vegas. Walking in, I noticed that everyone was wearing guns strapped to their waist. I instantly got very concerned, even more, when the owner of the company sat down, put his gun on the desk and asked me point-blank “who did you vote for?” I told him that I could not vote as I was a “Canadian” He then told me that Obama would be “dead” within a month.

I got out of there as fast as I could, sold my house and moved back to Canada. Over the next year, I got rid of all my assets and business in the USA and have now been back in Canada since.

When Trump was elected, I was shocked and dismayed by what I saw. I could see quite clearly that “America” had gone to that place that I was most fearful of. Bigotry, Corporate greed, religious zealots dictating the law and of course closing their borders, mistreatment of Muslims, Mexicans and pretty much anyone that did not have Trump as a last name. I saw Trump making himself into a “King” which is what he once told me was his destiny (although in fairness, it was that he was the King of New York).

Let me tell you what I know about this man, and what I learned directly from him and his associates.

“The Big Lie”

A big lie (German: große Lüge) is a propaganda technique. The expression was coined by Adolf Hitler, when he dictated his 1925 book Mein Kampf, about the use of a lie so "colossal" that no one would believe that someone "could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously."

Later, Joseph Goebbels put forth a slightly different theory which has come to be more commonly associated with the expression "big lie". Goebbels wrote the following paragraph in an article dated 12 January 1941, 16 years after Hitler's first use of the phrase. The article, titled Aus Churchill’s Lügenfabrik (English: "From Churchill's Lie Factory") was published in Die Zeit ohne Beispiel. (Thanks to Wikipedia)

The essential English leadership secret does not depend on particular intelligence. Rather, it depends on a remarkably stupid thick-headedness. The English follow the principle that when one lies, one should lie big, and stick to it. They keep up their lies, even at the risk of looking ridiculous.

I have known many people to practice this “art form.” I have walked away and left many a relationship because of the way those people were trained to “never admit to a lie” – Like the lifetime friend who was caught cheating on his wife, his defence – “ Never admit to having an affair, never” — He is no longer a friend. Whatever happened to integrity? Another question, maybe a Quora question.

In most recent times, Donald Trump has exhibited an extreme skill at using the “Big Lie” to his advantage and gaining followers and supporters just like Hitler and Churchill did. (Yes, it was not only the Nazis but also the British who used this technique to push the masses to do whatever the leaders told them to do.)

I know Donald Trump personally, and have done business with him; I ended my relationship with him over 15 years ago because of his lack of honesty, integrity and any resemblance to the “type” of business relationships that I wanted in my life.

I do have to hand it to him though; he does have perseverance in following his playbook with unwavering conviction to the point that he actually believes his own lies.

A passage from his playbook:

“The primary rules are: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it often enough people will sooner or later believe it.”

Do you have any idea where this playbook passage comes from?

The phrase was also used in a report prepared during the war by the United States Office of Strategic Services in describing Hitler's psychological profile.

You now know why there are so many comparisons and worries about Trump being just another “Hitler.”

You now all know that you are indubitably part of the “Big Lie” question is, what are you going to do about it? Trump is not just a sick perverted imbecile, he is dangerous.

Canada fought Hitler alongside the UK and France a good two years before America joined the fight, Canadians may be the friendlier, gentler nation to the north of the USA. But, we absolutely do what needs to be done when the rubber meets the road.

It is my sincere hope that the American public gains some insight into the very dangerous road they are going down, does the right thing and in a simple and direct voice says, “Donald Trump, you’re fired.”

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Gareth Jones,

I answered a very similar question in 2016 (Why aren't Canadians satisfied with Trump and want Hillary?). The reasons I give for the general Canadian opinion of Donald Trump are still valid, but they have been joined by a swarm of egregious offences against decency, legality, and common sense. Here’s what I wrote then, with a couple of footnotes to update:

There are some facts about Canada and some facts about Donald Trump that may answer your question.

• Canadians are famous for being polite. I can think of no Canadian election where a politician called opponents the equivalent of “Crooked” somebody or “Short” somebody rather than their names. Donald Trump insults entire groups of people. That’s why he got fewer votes from, say, blacks than Mitt Romney did. What was it 1%? 2%? His words, largely speaking, offend Canadians. His words certainly offend me.
• He says that he sexually assaults women, and, in fact, he’s going to trial for the rape of a thirteen-year-old.* Most Canadians would draw a negative view of someone like that.
  
  [She dropped the case, citing an inability to spend enough to match Trump. He “wins” many cases by being able to spend more on lawyers than the people he has bilked or assaulted can pay.]
• Canadians are into peacemaking, muddling through, and not making waves. Donald Trump, in contrast, has promised to make people in the world “uncertain” and “afraid” and to be “unpredictable.” Part of that is what he calls “hyperbole,” which everyone else recognizes by the word “lies.” He told 560 in the campaign for an average of 20 a day. (Donald Trump said 560 false things, total | Toronto Star). I wouldn’t ever be satisfied with that in a politician.
• Donald Trump is on record saying, several times, that revenge is an important part of being a businessman. He is a great believer in punishing people who have annoyed him, up to ten times as hard, he says. That makes me worried about my country and others.
• Donald Trump says that NAFTA is the worst deal in history and he’s going to get rid of it somehow. That’s the same deal that controls Canada-US trade. The same trade that is the bedrock of the Canadian economy.
  
  [Trump dropped out of the TPP that was intended to counter Chinese economic influence. The alternative that was chosen is that the US is in a trade war with China that it is losing. Also a trade war with the EU. There was also one with Canada and Mexico, you may remember, including threats to cause the “ruination” of the Canadian economy if Trump did not get what he wanted in the negotiations. By the way, he didn’t get much, thanks largely to the dogged resistance of the Canadian government. The one really big change in the new agreement is that Trump gets to change the name from NAFTA to USMCA. Notably, Canada and Mexico are spiting him by calling it something else.]
• Canada’s just announced that it will meet its international commitments to fight global warming. Donald Trump says that global warming is a hoax put out to help Chinese businesses and that he wants to get more energy from the dirty source of coal. Canadians who care about the environment are “not satisfied” with Donald Trump.
• Donald Trump is on record asking, several times why not use nuclear bombs on America’s enemies. Even mentioning this as a possibility scares the heck out of me.
  
  [By “negotiating” with North Korea to end its nuclear program, he has only given it breathing room to continue its nuclear program, including ICBM development. By withdrawing from the Iran agreement to end its nuclear program, he is on the edge of driving it to resume its nuclear program. Idiot.]

There is more, of course. Much more. I despise the man as much as I have ever despised anyone whom I have not met. I believe that many Canadians, just like the majority of Americans who voted against him, feel the same way.

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James Vi, M.A Disability Studies, York University;

Let’s put it this way: I am one of a number of people who refuse to cross the border now - since the election of 2016.

When Barack Obama became president most Canadians’ opinions of the states were great! 

Yet we saw a nasty fight develop where in order to prevent healthcare reforms from being passed a group of Americans called the ‘Tea Party’ began to attack Barack personally. 

This nastiness culminated in a reality-star Donald Trump humouring this group by saying Barack was not born in America and refusing to acknowledge the overwhelming evidence to the contrary. 

Next, he ran for president raising xenophobic messages about Mexicans crossing the border calling them all sorts of terrible names. Again Mr. Trump was given a platform by the media, and to many Canadians disgust, he was cheered by Americans who should have known better than to pay homage to a racist. 

He then began to attack female anchors, and Hillary Clinton with sexist taunts and a video came out of him saying even worse things. Again what was more disturbing was all those who cheered him. 

He then became the president and imposed a tariff on Canadian aluminum and other goods which hurt Canadian jobs, and we saw a U.S border-security force (who by the way endorsed him in the election) start to turn back Canadians who looked ‘suspicious’ in 2016. When civil rights activists were protesting and a white-supremacist ran over one, he said there were, “fine people on both sides.” 

Most people’s jaws just dropped to see a president refer to hate-groups as ‘fine people’.He then tried to issue a travel ban aimed at certain Muslims from developing countries. 

He went to a dictator Putin, and North Korean dictator and became friends (despite their active human rights abuses). He trolled our Prime Minister, and then it came out how he tried to rig the next election by coercing Ukraine into getting dirt on Biden.

In short, most Canadians are horrified by the Fascist state that this man seems to be creating. 

How he attacks all legitimate criticism as fake news. Perhaps what is more baffling is the horrifying realization that he may be rewarded by his supporters with another victory. So to return to the question, most of us in Canada gravitate between outright shock, to slapstick belly-over-laughter considering this disaster-in-chief.

And there ya have it, kids. these are only the first four answers from the hundreds submitted.......... but I think you get the idea!

The way I see it anyway!