LILLEY: Trudeau's campaign against Trump could hurt Canada

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It’s being called an act of diplomacy; it might better be described as covering your butt.

Justin Trudeau called Donald Trump on Sunday, the day after the attempted assassination on the former U.S. President. There was no readout provided of the call, which often happens when the PM makes an important call, just a short statement from Trudeau’s office.

“Trudeau condemned yesterday’s appalling assassination attempt and reiterated there’s no place for political violence,” the statement read.

I imagine after that, Trump hung up.

There isn’t exactly a warm and fuzzy relationship between Justin Trudeau and Donald Trump, there never was. And long gone are the days when Trudeau’s principal secretary Gerry Butts could claim a solid relationship with Trump’s chief of staff Steve Bannon.

Butts has long since left politics and isn’t involved with Trudeau’s team any longer. And Bannon, well, he’s currently in jail.

For many Canadians, especially those who hate Trump, having a stand-off between Trudeau and Trump makes them feel good. Canadians rarely want their prime minister to be too close to the American president, especially not Republican ones due to reasons based in tribalism rather than reality.

Wanting a bad relationship between the White House and our leaders in Ottawa is always a bad idea though.

Our economy is dependent on trade with the United States and keeping that trading relationship running smoothly often requires a functioning relationship between the men at the top. Despite being more politically aligned, Trudeau has also never had a good relationship with President Joe Biden, who has snubbed Trudeau and enacted more protectionist measures than Trump ever did.

With American voters now concerned whether Biden can finish a sentence never mind a second term, the prospect of a second Trump presidency is growing.

In the most recent polling, Trump continues to have an edge over Biden in the national race. We all know though that the presidency is won by taking the most votes in the electoral college and at this point, Trump’s advantage is much wider than an edge.

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In all the swing states that matter this election cycle, Trump is currently in the lead.

In Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada, Trump is in the lead. In Virginia, New Jersey, New Hampshire and even Maine, Trump is in contention.

Which brings us back to the call Trudeau made to Trump on Sunday and why it matters to Canada.

There is a very good chance that Trump will win the election in November and be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States of America in January. Here in Canada, we see no sign that Justin Trudeau will be stepping down or calling an early election.

Which means, we could have nearly 10 months of Trudeau and Trump having to deal with each other on cross border and trade issues.

How well do you think they will get along with Trump knowing Trudeau has been campaigning against him for the last year or more?

Trudeau isn’t campaigning against Trump in the United States. He’s campaigning against Trump in Canada, trying hard to link Trump to Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.

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It’s a ridiculous comparison because Trump and Poilievre are quite different men. But Trudeau and his team have just been smearing Trump as unacceptable, the worst kind of person, and then trying to link that to Poilievre.

There is no doubt that Trump will know about these attacks. He is acutely aware of what people – especially other world leaders – say about him, and he has people around him who pay attention to Canada.

Now, he even has a vice-presidential candidate in J.D. Vance who knows Canada well, and who knows the importance of our trading relationship given his Ohio roots. Oh, and a very good friend of Vance is Conservative MP Jamil Jivani who was thanked in Vance’s book Hillbilly Elegy and who performed a reading at Vance’s wedding.

Trudeau’s Liberals have been attacking Donald Trump personally for the last year in an attempt to get at Poilievre. I called it a dumb and dangerous plan then, but it’s even worse now.

The cheap politics played by Trudeau’s team could soon be biting Canada in the backside.

blilley@postmedia.com