{"id":71720,"date":"2024-02-06T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-06T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thehub.ca\/?p=71720"},"modified":"2024-02-08T23:41:51","modified_gmt":"2024-02-09T04:41:51","slug":"richard-shimooka-what-canada-can-do-to-prepare-for-the-american-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thehub.ca\/2024-02-06\/richard-shimooka-what-canada-can-do-to-prepare-for-the-american-election\/","title":{"rendered":"Richard Shimooka: Whether Trump or Biden wins, Canada must make defence spending a major priority"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Donald Trump\u2019s win at the Iowa Caucuses and New Hampshire primary has cemented his front-runner status as the Republican Party nominee for the 2024 presidential election. It should not have been surprising, given the mass of polling that placed him quite aways ahead of his nearest competitor since the day he left office in 2022. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is still a long way until November, however, and there\u2019s no guarantee that Trump will win, or even be the nominee by then.1<\/a><\/sup>Disqualifying him due to his actions on January 6th, 2021 via Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution remains a distinct possibility<\/a>.<\/span> Current polling numbers suggest the presidential race is at best a tossup, but there are signs that improving economic numbers and candidate Trump\u2019s personal legal troubles and statements may see a shift towards Biden in the coming weeks and months. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Nevertheless, the global community has started to prepare for the potential of a second Trump term. That certainly includes<\/a> the government of Canada. As they do, it’s worth looking back to how Trump handled international relations in his first term. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump\u2019s election and subsequent first term was a profound shock to America’s long-standing allies. His mercurial decision-making, primarily transactional view of international relations, and willingness to overturn long-standing tenets of U.S. foreign policy offered few obvious strategies for how world leaders should navigate the turbulence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Overall, Trump\u2019s personal focus was less on threats to the international order and more on the financial burden imposed on the U.S. economy to maintain this order. Trade policy considerations took precedence over defence and security policy\u2014even if these were used as fig leaves to justify the administration’s preferred trade policies. Trump was unafraid to use bellicose rhetoric, threats, and economic measures such as tariffs to achieve his America-First objectives. A former Reagan Administration official described it as a \u201cgrievance-based\u201d<\/a> foreign policy, emerging from Trump\u2019s populist tendencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some allies pivoted to this new reality more successfully than others. Shinzo Abe of Japan, for example, built up an excellent rapport with Trump<\/a> and was able to avoid much of the acrimony faced by others, such as Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Canada\u2019s approach to managing relations was the most multifaceted of all allies, reflecting the depth of the bilateral relationship between the two countries. It exploited existing connections to governors, congresspeople, and government officials to lobby their case where needed; an effective full-court press. The administration\u2019s concerns with Canada were not mainly on defence, despite our lagging defence spending. Rather, Trump focused on trade and was insistent on renegotiating NAFTA, which resulted in the USMCA.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe international community in an America First world<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n