Marker at the U.S.-Canadian border between Skagway, Alaska, and British Columbia, Canada.

Of all the things children learn at an early age, how to make and keep friends ranks in the top five most important. Friends support us; they listen to us and sometimes help us understand when we are wrong. The really good ones stand by us even when we are in difficult situations or behave badly from time to time. Such friendly support pushes most of us to cultivate a circle of good friends throughout our lives.

It appears Donald Trump never learned these lessons of friendship, especially the dictum, “If you want to have a friend, you need to be a friend.” The recent devolution of the U.S.-Canadian relationship is a stunning example of how Trump’s egocentric, bumbling and bullying style can damage even the closest of friendships.

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Canada has long been a strong friend and collaborator for the U.S., a friendship that has extended far beyond trade into political and military affairs around the globe. But while that relationship has been tense during both Trump terms, the recent blowup over an anti-tariff television ad produced by the Ontario government took the animosity........

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