Ask A Genius 1325: Interim Canadian Prime Minister on U.S. Relations and Trump’s Legacy
Author(s): Rick Rosner and Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Ask A Genius
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/03/29
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Any preliminary steps before I give the quote?
Rick Rosner: No. It’s just that we have a bad guy in charge of the country. So, Prime Minister Carney is the interim Canadian Prime Minister after Justin Trudeau. How does that work? He’s not the permanent Prime Minister? Do you guys have to have another election sometime?
Jacobsen: When a party leader steps down and is still in power, they often appoint a new leader who becomes Prime Minister until a general election is called. In this case, Mark Carney became the leader of the Liberal Party after Trudeau stepped down. As the Liberals still hold the majority (or plurality) in Parliament, Carney became Prime Minister.
Rosner: So it’s just that his second-in-command steps into the role for a month?
Jacobsen: Not quite. Carney wasn’t Trudeau’s deputy. He became party leader through an internal party process and was sworn in as Prime Minister. It’s not uncommon in Canadian parliamentary politics. For example, Kim Campbell became Prime Minister in 1993 after Brian Mulroney stepped down as Progressive Conservative leader. She served for a few months before losing the general election later that year.
Rosner: So, will this guy run for a longer term in April?
Jacobsen: Mark Carney will run to maintain the position in the upcoming federal election.
Rosner: Okay. But you said the election’s in April. You don’t even have your candidates yet?
Jacobsen: We do. Barring any significant political shifts, the current front-runners for Prime Minister are Pierre Poilievre (Conservative Party leader), Jagmeet Singh (NDP leader), and Mark Carney (Liberal leader and current Prime Minister).
Rosner: I wish we had elections like this—where it all happens really quickly. Ours take two years for no good reason.
Jacobsen: Yeah, Canadian election campaigns are much shorter. Ours are typically around 35 to 50 days.
So, Prime Minister Mark Carney gave a talk. In that speech, he noted that public and private discussions with former U.S. President Donald Trump did appear to show respect for Canadian sovereignty. That’s an important point.
However, Prime Minister Carney stated:
“The old relationship we had with the United States, based on deepening integration of our economies and tight security and military cooperation, is over.”
He further noted that there would be no turning back to the previous framework in future trade agreements. He emphasized that Canadians must “fundamentally reimagine” our economy to thrive in a rapidly changing world and will continue to do so.
What are your reflections on Mark Carney’s measured and tempered response to the early months of this second Trump administration?
Rosner: I had reason to look up the First Gulf War in 1990–1991, which was launched after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. In response, the U.S. and a coalition of 34 countries—not 42—formed a military alliance under Operation Desert Storm. The air campaign began in January 1991, and the ground war lasted approximately 100 hours (a little over four days), starting on February 24, 1991.
That coalition assembled overwhelming force and achieved its military objectives swiftly, with U.S. troop casualties under 300 during the conflict. Imagining the United States assembling that level of trust and cooperation today is difficult. We have eroded many of our alliances, and confidence in American leadership has declined globally.
From a utilitarian perspective—seeking the greatest good for the most significant number—things were far from perfect under Obama or Biden. Still, there was broad access to civil liberties and a high standard of living for hundreds of millions of people. By contrast, current conditions reflect disarray and diminished global trust, at least from the perspective of international cooperation.
Trump is tearing it all down. He’s running a presidency of vengeance, of grievance—completely corrupt—not a smart guy. All the smart people who might have wanted to work for him either bailed out during his first administration or saw the first administration as a good reason to stay away.
He’s got more idiot billionaires in his cabinet than any previous administration: just more idiots, rapists—just terrible people—who are picked for their sycophancy. He’s burning it all down. The stock market—well, he’s throwing tariffs on things that may accomplish some positive results but will do far more damage overall. Through RFK Jr., he’s also scuttling public health infrastructure. He’s just the worst guy ever to be president.
The Democrats have been widely criticized for having no organized resistance. That will not always be the case. It’s taken them a while to get their act together, but Trump’s approval will continue to drop—though not enough—because he still has about 40% of the adult American population who will support him no matter how terrible he is.
Right now, he’s at 48% approval—he’s tied: 48% approve, 48% disapprove. But he’ll continue to lose a few percentage points slowly, maybe down to about 44% or even lower.
Jacobsen: Will that make him change any of his policies?
Rosner: No. He’s doing many things that are illegal, but losing in court won’t change anything either.
Jacobsen: So, is the legal system ineffective in modifying behaviour in this case?
Rosner: I don’t know. I’ve been bitching about him almost since we started talking—what—ten years ago?
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