America & Europe (+Canada) in the Age of Trump

Speech on Canada's role in the divide between the United States and Europe during the second Trump era.

The following is a written version of a speech I gave at a conference organized by Counter-Currents in Ljubljana, Slovenia on May 31^st, 2025.

I want first to say thanks to Greg for the opportunity to speak in front of this room full of great individuals.

I’m Canadian, so I’m going say a few words about how Canada fits into the divide between Europe and the United States. Donald Trump has not only clashed with America’s European allies, but he’s clashed with Canada as well, which is arguably the United States’ closest ally. Donald Trump has levied heavy tariffs against Canada, which he’s done around the world, but the fact that Canada and America are such close trading partners and a huge portion of Canadian trade is with the United States means this really bites economically.

Then to add insult to injury, he’s saying that he wants to turn Canada into the 51^st state of the United States. He’s calling for Canada to be annexed. There are two theories behind why. Why is Trump calling for Canada to be annexed? One of the theories is that Trump is trying to create Fortress North America. I believe a few of the other speakers have mentioned the idea that he wants the United States to rule over a more local power bloc and incorporate Canada, Greenland, and supposedly the Panama Canal into that.

The other theory is that it’s just this crack brained idea that Trump came up with. He’s a businessman. He views relations between countries as transactional, and he’s approaching this as if he’s buying a property. I tend to think the latter is probably correct. I don’t think there’s actually a realistic chance of this happening. I think it’s more just an idea that Trump threw out there, as he has a tendency to do that, as Mr. Taylor also pointed out.

But it’s something you have to take seriously. In Canada, it is a threat to our country’s sovereignty. Regardless of whatever his motive is, regardless of if this is actually going happen or not, which I think is very unlikely, there’s been a fallout between Canada and the US. This has pushed Canada closer to the allies that we have in Europe.

This is spurred on by present day politics. However, there is actually a precedent for this in history. Canadian identity has always been in contrast to the United States. The US was founded on revolutionary enlightenment ideals, and Canada remained an outpost of Old-World traditions in the New. Today, the divide between Canada and the US and, and the Europe and the US is over this universalist egalitarian and globalist managerial worldview. This is dominant in Europe, not in every country, but it’s the general consensus. This is also the consensus of the Democratic Party, and it is the dominant ideology in Canada as well. I think that what Trump represents is more of a libertarian reaction to this consensus, not exactly a nationalistic one.

This reaction consists of a coalition of the populist right, tech oligarchs, right-leaning Zionists, and a non-ideological cesarean figure in Trump himself. Canada, siding with Europe in this divide is primarily driven by Canada’s ruling class remaining loyal to the globalist, egalitarian, universalist, managerialist consensus which remains dominant in Europe as well.

However, in the new “multipolar world” which everyone is talking about these days, Europe is faced with the reality that the universalist ideals, which it claims define it, are not universal. Not only are these ideals not universal, but they render one powerless in a world where nobody holds these ideals. Let’s think about something like open borders. If you have geopolitical strife with another power bloc, you can’t have open borders with them. Think about the green agenda. Do you think that China is going to hamstring their industry and collapse their geopolitical power just to help to stop climate change (if that’s even the great threat it’s made out to be)? All of these European countries have all of these policies (the migration policies, the green policies, etc.), which are hamstringing Europe’s ability to actually be a power bloc on the world stage.

On a diplomatic trip to Europe, Canada’s new prime minister, Mark Carney, described Canada as the most European, non-European country. This bring up the question is, what is Europe and what makes Canada the most European, non-European country? While I’m under no illusion that Mark Carney shares my worldview, there is a truth to what he said. If you asked him or if you asked the eurocrats “What is Europe?” they would say it’s “democracy.” But we know they don’t care about democracy. They’re trying to ban popular political candidates in Romania, France, Germany, etc. from running for office.

It’s really this universalist egalitarianism which they believe in. But the problem is that that’s not a tenable position to hold in a multipolar world, where anyone who doesn’t hold these positions is going to outcompete you. The truth to the statement that Canada is the most European, non-European country is that Canada has a shared ancestry with Europe. What is Europe? Europe is a shared ancestry. What makes Canada the most European, non-European country is that it was built by European settlers, primarily from the British Isles and France who stayed true to Old-World traditions in the New.

What I would like to see happen is this new emerging power bloc in Europe go at it on its own. I would like to see Europe come to this realization that ultimately it’s not these shared values or a belief in “our democracy,” but a shared ancestry which makes Europe what it is. And that’s also what makes Canada the most European non-European country. I hope that this becomes the new consensus for Europe and that Canada would be part of this in the new multipolar world.

As for the United States, I don’t consider the US to be an enemy. I think it would be extremely foolish for Canadians to say America’s our enemy because we share a massive border. The last thing we need is a for superpower right on our border to hate us. However, what I would like to see happen is America withdraw a bit. I think that that would be best for both Europe and the United States. The US has had this global empire since 1945, and I think it’s time for them to focus more internally and withdraw from the world stage a little. In this room we have very mixed feelings about Trump, but he seems to be doing that.

It might actually work out for the best for both Europe and the United States. I’d like to see a return to something like the US foreign policy of the late 19th and early 20th centuries when it was a lot more isolationist. There wouldn’t be hostility between Canada, Europe and the United States, but there wouldn’t be this domineering relationship either. And I’d like to see the new European bloc come into its own. Thank you.