HALIFAX—Of all the problems facing Prime Minister Mark Carney, none is as intractable as dealing with United States President Donald Trump.  

In a few short months, the Carney government must go the mat with Trump to renegotiate the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade agreement. No deal is more important to this country. Getting that deal is arguably Carney’s most important test as prime minister. 

Under normal circumstances, one would expect a vigorous negotiation in which both sides would try to come up with a mutually beneficial deal. A tough process, to be sure, but one based on reason, fairness,  and deep friendship.  

But Carney and Canada are not facing normal circumstances. Trump is a president unlike any other. He seems addicted to either dissing or threatening his own allies with a zeal usually reserved for America’s enemies.  

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The record is as clear as it is disturbing. Trump has no problem interfering in the affairs of sovereign nations. First, there was his imposition of crippling tariffs on friendly trading countries. He also personally ordered the removal of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, launched a war of choice against Iran, and has threatened to annex both Canada and Greenland. Now he is muttering about invading Cuba. He has even threatened to “blow up” longtime American ally Oman if that country works with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.  

But Trump’s unprincipled truculence is not just aimed........

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