I am adamantly opposed to most things President Trump does. Not all: The Gaza ceasefire is a good thing and I hope it holds. But in general, I have a grudging respect for his ability to underperform even my low expectations for his behavior.

Seriously, I don’t know how he does it. He is behaving outrageously and ignoring the laws, but you have to admire the creativity. Two weeks ago, did anyone have “tear down part of the White House” or “punish Canada for quoting Ronald Reagan” on their bingo card?

Trump’s decision to impose additional tariffs on Canada for running a television ad is exceptional on multiple levels. In short, Canada ran an ad on American TV stations featuring a 1987 speech in which President Reagan explained why tariffs, in general, are a bad policy that hurts American workers. Trump was so furious about this “fraudulent” ad that he imposed an additional 10 percent tariff on Canadian goods as a punishment and demanded it be taken down “IMMEDIATELY.”

You can imagine what happened. Trump may be able to ignore the Constitution, but he can’t ignore the Streisand Effect. Had Trump done nothing, the ad would hardly have been noticed. Now it’s one of the biggest stories in the country, and millions of people are actively discussing Reagan’s thoughts on free trade.

Trump’s plans for punishing Canada are

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