U.S. President Donald Trump deliberately consumes attention to misdirect the public from focusing on more important matters through distracting spectacles. While domestic instances are relatively trivial, the consequences are serious when expanded to international politics. With his retaliatory justification legally disproven and clearly dishonest, the U.S.-Canada trade war Trump initiated last July proved this point. The resulting public impacts forced Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to respond, leaving him with no choice but to legitimize an imagined problem. This demonstrates Trump’s power to dominate the priorities of other leaders, and creates a civilian cost that ultimately threatens greater democratic order.
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