Interview by: Hassan Salman
Canadian researcher Eric Walberg stated that US President Donald Trump's disregard for all diplomatic protocols and his indiscriminate insults directed at allies and adversaries alike are pushing the world to boycott the United States and seek new partners elsewhere.
In an exclusive interview with Al-Quds Al-Arabi, he also asserted that the Old World, or what is known as the "collective West" led by the United States, is struggling to enter the 21st century and has been negatively impacted by China's significant economic rise and the war in Ukraine. However, he cautioned against excessive economic openness towards China, which he emphasized is not an ideal state, particularly given its 17th-century approach of using trade as a tool for war and colonialism. The following is the text of the interview.
HS: How do you interpret the recent crisis between Ottawa and Washington, and Trump's threat to impose tariffs on Canada after it signed multi-billion dollar agreements with China?
EW: The crisis between the United States and Canada was dramatically on display at the World Economic Forum. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's speech at the Davos forum overshadowed Trump's address the following day.
Thoughtful and measured, Carney's speech ignited the audience and will go down in history, much like British Prime Minister Churchill's 1946 speech in Fulton, Missouri, when he declared the Cold War against the Soviet Union. Both speeches were blatant challenges to the supposed enemy of good. The crucial difference is that Churchill's eloquent rhetoric relied on outright lies and half-truths to drag the United States into an endless economic war against the very anti-fascists who had just defeated Hitler. This time, the new reality was presented, but without the lies, and the United States was now the enemy.
Carney’s statement was eloquent in its simplicity, yet it was brimming with truths aimed at the United States as the enemy of humanity, an imperialist behemoth terrorizing the world with sanctions and invasions, all backed by the world’s virtual currency, the US dollar. While Churchill urged the world to work to defeat communism (boycotts, sabotage, and isolation), Carney was less subversive and hateful. He urged the world to break free from dependence on the unreliable United States and called on middle-sized nations to work together to overcome this monster and chart a new course (trade and the development of new financial instruments). Of course, Carney didn’t use red flags. His most provocative statement was: “You cannot live in the illusion of mutual benefit through integration when integration becomes a source of your dependence.”
He was speaking just after returning from a summit in Beijing where he had signed agreements on electric vehicles and canola oil, as well as plans to export a significant portion of Canada’s heavy crude oil to China instead of the United States. Carney responded to Trump’s outburst by saying, “This is not a free trade agreement,” even though it clearly was. All anyone can do when dealing with Trump is play with words to avoid offending his ego. Before his whirlwind visit to Davos, Trump congratulated Carney, but after Carney’s speech, his performance was a complete flop. Realizing he had been outshone by Carney, he threatened (illegally, but what legal thing does Trump do?) to impose 100% tariffs, effectively destroying the Canadian economy. His childish narcissism was on full display but thankfully, his memory is short as his tariffs remain at 15%.
To make matters worse, Carney and Alberta Premier Daniel Smith had already signed an agreement to develop a new oil pipeline to the west coast, aiming to diversify exports away from the United States, thus undermining US efforts to encourage Alberta to leave Canada and join the United States. This legal agreement stands in stark contrast to Trump’s interference in Venezuelan President Maduro’s affairs and his claim to be “the acting president of Venezuela” to ensure Venezuela’s export of its heavy crude oil to the United States.
Trump’s insults, first directed at Prime Minister JustinTrudeau and then Carney, and at Canada as the 51st state, are finally bearing fruit. In response to Trump’s derisive remark that “Canada lives because of the United States,” Carney calmly told reporters, “Canada doesn’t live because of the United States. It thrives because we are Canadians.”
In line with their suddenly nationalist prime minister, Canadian visits to the United States have declined by 30% since Trump took office. Harris Poll data shows that 42% of Americans have considered moving abroad, with Canada topping their list of destinations. Trump’s cuts to education and his refusal to admit international students mean that intellectual elites opposed to him are flocking to Canada. So far, the Canadian economy is thriving despite Trump’s threats. I was skeptical of the global banker Carney (the former governor of the Bank of England and Canada), who promised a “green economy” and then whose first act was to promise yet another polluting oil pipeline, but I’ve changed my mind. His newfound Canadian patriotism seems to mean that his pipeline is intended to appease separatist Alberta and export to China instead of the United States. Diversification is essential. Trump dug his own grave with his reckless insults and betrayals.
HS: Has Canada (which some consider an extension of the United States) begun to rebel against Washington and seek new partners, abandoning its dependence on its southern neighbor?
EW: Canada has been on a path of increasing alignment with the United States since Prime Minister Brian Mulroney betrayed Canada’s attempts to maintain a healthy distance from the US. This was the Liberal policy pursued by Lester Pearson, Pierre Pierre Trudeau and Jean Chrétien, prime ministers from the 1960s to the 1980s. The 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) pleased the business community, though it was unpopular with most Canadians.
Since 1986, the United States has imposed a tariff on Canadian softwood, varying from 6-15%, rising to 24% in 2017, costing Canada $7 billion. Trump withdrew from NAFTA during his first term, replacing it with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which has done little more than increase access for American dairy products to Canada and, on the plus side, includes stricter labor and environmental standards. Of course, Trump wants to renegotiate again. But Canada isn't intimidated by Trump's iron fist. It has, in fact, pushed Canada toward self-reliance.
According to the International Monetary Fund, Canada could see gains of nearly 7% in real GDP by removing internal trade barriers. Building on this, Carney’s first act was the Unified Canadian Economy Act, introduced as Bill C-5, aimed at reducing trade barriers between provinces and accelerating major infrastructure projects. The legislation was passed in June 2025 in response to the trade war with the United States (despite strong opposition from environmentalists and Indigenous peoples). Unfortunately, Trump doesn’t read the news himself; he lives in isolation from the world, and thus only became aware of the threat after he went to Davos.
Like the United States, Canada is a settler-colonial nation losing its white identity as immigration continues, with most immigrants now being of color. Non-whites make up 30% of the population, while in major cities like Toronto, they exceed 55%, 47% of them born abroad. In the United States, non-whites comprise 40% of the population and will soon become the majority. Canadians are too civilized to elect a racist like Trump, who seeks to reverse this trend toward a non-white demographic. Multiculturalism is the foundation of modern Canada, and importing immigrants complements the drive to diversify trade.
The Canadian brand is a powerful source of soft power. Canada’s ties to the Commonwealth, a kind of mini-UN, perhaps explain the greater enthusiasm for fair immigration policies and a move away from dependency on the United States. However, a significant minority of Canadians (mostly recent immigrants and young people) would be happy to join the United States, as a university professor who recently sought refuge from Trump discovered, but the majority are not interested. Canada has never known slavery. It is more democratic and friendly, given its relatively small size. There is no longer any colonial prejudice in our culture. In a 2025 poll, 45% of Canadians supported maintaining the monarchy to preserve stability and differentiate themselves from the United States, while 39% wanted to end the relationship.
HS: How would you define a Canadian?
EW: Well, we're not Americans!
HS: In the same vein, how do you explain the Greenland crisis, which experts believe has caused a major rift between the United States and the European Union? And is Washington starting to lose its allies (because of Trump's policies), thus entering a period of international isolation?
HS: Trump's call to annex Greenland was a crucial turning point for the European Union, but to no avail. Again, Trump needs to read and prepare. Yes, the United States occupied Greenland and Iceland during World War II and signed a 1951 agreement to host a base, and even had an experimental under-ice community in Greenland, Camp Century, from 1959 until 1967, when it lost interest. Blinken signed an updated version of this agreement in 2023. The United States was hesitant to have a large permanent troop presence there because of the extreme cold, high casualty rates, and frostbite (no doubt excessive alcohol consumption in the bleak cold played a role).
It was foolish (and illegal) for NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to promise Trump a piece of Greenland. Trump’s acquisition obsession is a dangerous sign. Just ask Cuba, which recklessly (no doubt under duress) signed a lease with no expiry date for the US occupation of Guantanamo Bay in 1903, which could be the springboard for Trump’s own impulsive invasion. “The illegal invasion of Iraq in 2003 severely damaged trust in the United States,” said Sven Biskop of the Egmont Institute in Brussels, comparing it to Trump’s stated motives for seizing Greenland. “But ultimately, it wasn’t a turning point for the global order as a whole, because the US claimed its war was specifically to maintain order—even though that was clearly untrue.”
As Carney said, “Middle powers have to work together, because if you’re not at the table, you’re a target.” If you thought Trump was an anomaly, Carney was simply quoting Blinken from a speech he gave in October 2022, emphasizing the need for the United States to set global standards. Blinken, unlike Trump, did not explicitly threaten to put the European Union on the menu. He meant the “status quo,” not a world dominated by China.
By flouting all diplomatic protocols and hurling insults and threats left and right, Trump has unleashed other leaders. As Belgian Prime Minister De Wever put it, “It’s one thing to be a happy vassal, and another to be a miserable slave.” After mocking Macron’s sunglasses, Trump shouldn’t be surprised when Macron declined his invitation to join Trump’s Peace Council. Carney’s invitation was (thankfully) withdrawn. It’s not just Canadians who are boycotting the United States. Visitors from Western Europe to the United States fell by 17% in March compared to the same month last year.
