It’s blatant extortion now.

  • WorkersCorps@sopuli.xyz
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    30
    ·
    3 days ago

    Trump needs to be removed for this and it’s not an exaggeration to say there are at least a dozen other unconstitutional things he’s done that he should be removed for as well. But the GOP-held congress doesn’t care about the constitution either so this is only going to continue to get worse.

  • theoretiker@discuss.tchncs.de
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    30
    ·
    3 days ago

    The US’ most important good is intellectual property. They rely on other countries to protect their IP. If you no longer rely on them for trade because theyre tariffing the shit out of your country, you don’t need to appease them anymore by protecting their IP.

    • ours@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      14
      ·
      3 days ago

      Up until the early 90s, the Dominican Republic had a local cable TV network. This network pretty much had a monopoly, it was dirt cheap and included all the premium American satellite/cable TV networks. You name it, it had it.

      Obviously this company never bothered to license any of it and just sent some dude to Miami from time to time to renew his individual satellite package so it could be pipe to an entire country. Neat “business model”, not local laws where broken and the US companies couldn’t do much about it.

      The fun came to a stop when the US threatened to revoke free-trade deals it had done with the State and pressured the Government to clamp down on the cable TV provider.

      • Pyr_Pressure@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        3 days ago

        I wonder if Canada can make its own streaming service to Canadians which provides all of the content from Netflix, prime, Disney, etc in one location for cheap because all the content is pirated by the government itself.

  • But_my_mom_says_im_cool@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    115
    ·
    4 days ago

    In case people don’t realize. Canada shares an Arctic border with Russia and Russia is trying to take Canadian land and regularly crosses into our waters to steal resources. It is of benefit to Putin for Canada to be weak and distracted by Trump, since Trump works for Putin, it’s very clear why he’s doing this

        • cyphear@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          3 days ago

          Just look up mutually assured mass destruction and you’ll understand.

          • Llewellyn@lemm.ee
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            3 days ago

            Besides theoretical guarantee you would need a will to wreak havoc to both of worlds. Will someone in Canada launch nukes with fist step of the first soldier on Canada’s land? If no, when?

  • elucubra@sopuli.xyz
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    114
    arrow-down
    4
    ·
    edit-2
    4 days ago

    Please remember that all this is noise to hide the great billionaire sacking of america. Smoke screen.

    • rocmal@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      36
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      4 days ago

      Great take. I agree. We know this from Project 2025. Keep an eye on it but don’t let it distract. Trump and cronies are using a strategy coined flood the zone to prevent coordinated opposition against them in politics and media.

    • turnip@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      edit-2
      3 days ago

      Have these random programs actually helped Americans?

      To my naive view, would America not he better served with a far more progressive tax system, in lieu of spending these large sums to foreign countries and various agencies that squander what could be given to the poor?

      In what world is giving the poor more money directly not he an effective means of raising their standard of living, which should be the main point of a progressive government?

      • Mongostein@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        3 days ago

        Maybe, but that’s not what he’s doing. He’s raising taxes on the poor while cutting social programs and not giving anyone but billionaires money.

      • WaterFoul@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        3 days ago

        They are in the process of transitioning to a government that does not care about the people and does not provide for them. People here aren’t going to get any benefit. Just like with the Empire, the only ones who reap any benefits are the Oligarchs.

  • Treczoks@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    126
    ·
    4 days ago

    I hope that people in the Pentagon remember that following illegal orders is a crime, too, and you cannot be forced to do so. Something established in Nürnberg when they took care of the Nazis.

    An order to attack Canada, Mexico, Greenland, or Panama would basically be such an illegal order.

    • CircaV@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      39
      ·
      4 days ago

      This is not the first time the US has made up bullshit in order to attack a country: WMDs in Iraq, communism in Vietnam, Russia said there were nazis in Ukraine to justify that war. The military only needs a lie and then it’s not illegal anymore. The lies are already circulating. “canada is communist” “canada hurts the US”

      • heraplem@leminal.space
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        3 days ago

        You’re going to have a hard time getting Americans to rally behind shooting at the polite white people next door. I really don’t think even the Republican propaganda machine could make that happen.

        • xye@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          3 days ago

          Then you will never cease to be amazed by the depths of Trump fanaticism, because they absolutely would fall in line. It’s not the Republican machine, merely a vestigial organ to the Trump cult that has taken over its host.

    • CurlyWurlies4All@slrpnk.net
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      40
      ·
      4 days ago

      Lol the Pentagon isn’t afraid to fake evidence to support an invasion. Remember the aluminium tubes? Remember yellow cake uranium? I remember.

    • febra@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      38
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      4 days ago

      When have illegal wars ever stopped the Americans?

      I’m sorry but let’s not forget that Iraq was a thing.

    • PraxicalExperience@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      12
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      4 days ago

      I’m not sure it’s technically illegal, and I’m very doubtful that the current judiciary would find it so. But it is unconscionable. And insane.

      • Randomgal@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        10
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        4 days ago

        It’s not technical illegal at all. Nothing he does is. The Supreme Court made him king.

      • orcrist@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        3 days ago

        If troops do illegal shit, the U.S. judicial system is one of several places they could possibly be held accountable.

    • Phoenixz@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      4 days ago

      … And you think the trump government cares about some German town (as trump would explain that)?

    • P1k1e@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      4 days ago

      He has the memory of a cod and the backbone of a slug, this is all bluster and he’ll cave the moment anyone he knows tells him otherwise.

      Strongman my ass

  • azimir@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    247
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    5 days ago

    According to the US Supreme Court, a US president cannot be prosecuted for crimes (if they’re related to their official duties, but whatever goes, I guess). This means that Canada is faced with the fact that they’re being attacked by a foreign power with a ruler not beholden to the rule of law. If they give in, they’re going to be conquered by a king who is not bound by a national constitution, legislative body, nor courts. This is an existential threat to their freedom as individuals with rights.

    • cygnus@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      216
      arrow-down
      5
      ·
      edit-2
      5 days ago

      If they give in

      lol, no. The US are about to rediscover why Canadians were so feared in the world wars. Canada literally exists because we didn’t want to be part of the US. If you want Washington burned down a second time, keep at it.

    • DaddleDew@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      84
      ·
      edit-2
      5 days ago

      Well, that and also the fact that Canadians currently see the US as a severely indebted dumpster fire where the system is specifically designed to exploit and oppress its citizens for the profit of the few. A police state where cops can assault, rob, unlawfully imprison and murder anyone without repercussion, where your insurance company will deny you life saving treatments to make more money despite charging you twice what Canadians pay for their own health insurance through their slightly higher taxes, where the cost of education is absurdly prohibitive and social mobility is nonexistent, where it is legal to pay someone a salary that is not even enough to keep them lodged and fed while working over 50 hours a week on several jobs, where corporations can sell you food containing ingredients that are known to be harmful to your health, where religious zealots with belief systems that belong to the dark ages wield significant political power, where citizens are locked up for simple violations while rich people get away with murder, where entertainment TV shows can spew out pure disinformation while calling themselves “FOX News” where Corporations are being given human rights that take priority over real humans and their political donations are considered “free speech”, where any moron can buy a gun without even having a single clue on how to use it safely and where the violent crime rate is through the roof, all that while chanting about being the greatest country on Earth.

      And that was before we even take Trump into consideration. But hey, he said we could keep our anthem because he likes it and that we’d pay lower taxes. So I guess that makes it worth it now?

    • Ledericas@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      11
      ·
      4 days ago

      if canada is threatened they can just cut out all traffic to ALASKA, starve the state.

  • Brotha_Jaufrey@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    93
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    4 days ago

    I know trying to make sense of the stupidity that is Trump’s “plan” for America is a lost cause. But why do they speak like turning Canada into a singular state makes any god damn sense??

    Also, is war inevitable? I honestly don’t know. Shit is not looking good. If war breaks out, I would find a way to flee and volunteer to fight on the opposing side. No way am I supporting my country on the wrong side of history.

    • Match!!@pawb.social
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      39
      ·
      4 days ago

      today seems like a good day to remember David Fagen, an American soldier who defected to fight for the Philippines against the American invasion and is remembered as a hero for it in the modern era

    • CircaV@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      45
      ·
      4 days ago

      The US could attack Canada and they could take our cities in Southern Ontario easily, however, that would instantly deputize everyone else and there would be tens of millions of insurgents fighting asymmetrical warfare forever more. We would also destroy all the assets the US sought to take from us cause Canadians are vindictive AF. If we can’t have what’s rightfully ours neither can US invaders.

    • SabinStargem@lemmings.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      11
      ·
      4 days ago

      Yeah, I definitely don’t have loyalty to fascism. Being autistic and leftist, they will want me dead. Here’s hoping that I can help in some useful way.

    • PraxicalExperience@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      4 days ago

      This is what I hope – that there are enough actual patriots, people who believe in the Rule of Law and the principles our Republic was built on, and resist. That military commands will rebel, that people will be gathering OSInt for Canada, and saboteurs and vandals and lone wolves start making things miserable for the administration and anyone who supports them.

    • RainbowHedgehog@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      4 days ago

      I think war against Panama is far more likely. The idea of annexing Canada is wildly unpopular among both Democrats and Republicans. The best you could get away with is an EU type economic union. We already have some in the military who have said they won’t invade our allies.

      A full on war against Canada is unlikely. Maybe a single battle?

      https://www.reuters.com/world/us/americans-worry-trump-too-closely-aligned-with-russia-reutersipsos-poll-finds-2025-03-13/

    • orcrist@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      3 days ago

      War? Remember that we’re talking about nuclear war. That is possible of course, but many people with brains would try to stop Trump from starting it. Would they succeed? Who knows.

    • orcrist@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      5
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      4 days ago

      No. War isn’t inevitable. People have nukes and definitely will use them if needed. In other words, a cold war might occur, but maybe not regular war at least not in North America.

      • Triasha@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        4 days ago

        Trump can be talked down by people that understand reality, but not always. Putin, a much more intelligent leader, thought his invasion of Ukraine would be over in a week and look how that worked out for Russians.

    • ayyy@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      4 days ago

      A land war at the border would give him justification to deploy military domestically for “defense”.

    • PlantDadManGuy@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      4 days ago

      I honestly think the “better” thing to do is stay inside and try to sabotage the aggressors. This would obviously require a great deal of cunning and bravery.

      • conditional_soup@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        8
        ·
        4 days ago

        If you want to really sabotage the war effort, use the war to push for state secession from the union, particularly if you’re in a blue state. Most of the blue states are economic engines that keep the rest of the machine ticking. If they leave, or try to, that’ll be a huge kick in the nuts to any war effort.

        • Triasha@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          4 days ago

          Honest endgame here.

          And if the coastal states are doing it you might even get a left-right alliance in Texas to support secession.

  • DaddleDew@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    109
    ·
    edit-2
    5 days ago

    Thanks, now Canada can more easily commit to exporting its energy and resources to Asia and Europe.

    Canada will outlive Trump.

    • Wren@lemmy.worldOPM
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      36
      ·
      5 days ago

      Yeah. Hopefully Canada can completely detach from the cancer that my home country has become. And same goes for everywhere else.

      For the greater good of the rest of the planet- everyone needs to cut ties with this festering disease of a “nation.” And I sincerely hope it happens.

    • rc__buggy@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      9
      ·
      5 days ago

      Yeah, but it’s a big PITA. Gotta expand ports and have long lines at existing ports which means pollution and blight. Lots of benefit to having a sane trade partner within truck/train/pipeline range. Having to steer around a crazy grandpa means thinner margins and more risk.

  • andros_rex@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    97
    ·
    edit-2
    5 days ago

    We’ve been subjected to costs that we shouldn’t be subjected to. In the case of Canada, we’re spending 200 billion a year to subsidize Canada. I love Canada, I love the people of Canada. I love I have many friends in Canada. The great one, Wayne Gretzky, the great. Hey, how good is Wayne Gretzky? He’s a great one.

    why tf does the media present this as anything other than unhinged dementia word salad

    Is Quayle still alive? He’s gotta be pissed about the “potatoe” thing.

    • devedeset@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      39
      ·
      5 days ago

      I have no idea what the fuck he’s talking about in terms of “subsidizing” Canada. Either he has absolutely no idea how trade defects work or he’s purposefully playing dumb since apparently Canada needs the US less than the US needs Canada

      • l_b_i@pawb.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        16
        ·
        5 days ago

        Assuming he believes his words (as opposed to using rhetoric to get what he or someone around him wants, in either case unfortunately, I think he’s serious). I think he sees anything purchased from another country as “subsidizing” that country. To him, its money the US had that Canada now has. I sometimes think he somehow thinks the US should be given things, because…??? Every transaction has to have a “winner” and a “looser” and whoever has a + on the balance sheet is the winner, it doesn’t matter what that + really means. (I can only bend my logic so far to try to figure these things out)

        • tomi000@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          12
          ·
          5 days ago

          I think thats pretty much it. For trump there are no relationships or compromises. Every single thing is about winning or losing. Eating is him winning against the food.

        • CircaV@lemmy.ca
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          4 days ago

          Yeah orange shitgibbon should STOP buying from Canada. No one is forcing the US to buy anything from us. Don’t need it - fine! Now fuck right off! Don’t buy something from Canada and then scream that you have a deficit with Canada!! Fucking moron.

      • CircaV@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        5
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        4 days ago

        He’s weaponizing his very armed sycophants against Canada. And is warming the rest of the world up to annexing us. Dementia Don said it AGAIN tripling down on the obscenity today while sitting next to the chair of NATO Mark Rutte, and Rutte the COWARD and CRAVEN piece of shit, said nothing while Shittler shat out of his mouth 51st state nonsense and arbitrary border horseshit.

        Carney should not meet with Frump. Fuck it. It’s appeasement. There’s no going back on this, no apology could suffice from the US. This is fucking DONE.