Editor,
Trying to understand the erratic and highly questionable actions of the American president must include a closer look at the economic policies his regime follows. To make America great again, he has made threatening gestures such as attacking the Canadian dairy system because he wants to flood Canada with American milk. And he thinks we are unfair with our lumber industry. Both important Pontiac economic activities.
The 1,000 American billionaires have accumulated $ 8.2 trillion of wealth, which is about half of the total wealth of the country. But this wealth does not reach the general population as the U.S. ranks twenty-third on the 2026 World Happiness Report. The Nordic countries, which pay more attention to the services the people need, rank at the top of the happiness scale. The United States is a clear example of gross economic inequality. Trump promised to make America great again, but he never promised to fix the inequality, never promised to share his good fortune.
Even with all that wealth, Trump, a billionaire himself thanks to his father’s wealth, campaigned on making America great again. But it is clear that he has no intention of sharing the wealth; in fact his government is working to maintain the gross inequality of American society by such measures as giving the wealthiest huge tax cuts. He has used his position as leader to grow his fortune by over a billion dollars since he became president. It seems that with all the wealth America possesses, there are millions of Americans still without health care, forced to go to ill equipped schools, and who are unable to feed their families. Trump prefers to plunder the world than work on making internal economic systems work better for Americans. His solution? Blame migrants for America’s woes.
To me, Trump’s campaign was a sham. Trump never intended to reverse the inequality that pervades the U.S. A good TV performer, Americans fell for his bluster and hyperbole. They failed to detect his grift. After all, Trump is the most criminally charged American president ever. And he used his money and power to derive immunity from prosecution, thanks to the conservative Supreme Court.
Mired in Iran, Trump has his eyes on poverty stricken Cuba, a country many Canadians have visited and enjoyed for its hospitality. What are the chances the lives of Cuban people are going to improve after American intervention? Trump has his eyes on Canadian energy, minerals and lumber. He wants to take it without a fair trade deal in place. Canada has to be more forceful in standing up for the sovereignty of hemispheric neighbours and be prepared to withstand his inevitable attack on our resources. There is a lot at stake for the Pontiac in these upcoming trade talks.
Carl Hager, Gatineau