Trump: Disciple of Jacksonian "Democracy".

Jackson's portrait hangs "proudly" in the Oval Office. Trump views himself as a logical extension of so-called Jacksonian Democracy.

This is what Jacksonian Democracy is really all about in Jackson's own words:

[...]"The present policy of the government is but a continuation of the same progressive change by a milder process. The [Indian] tribes which occupied the countries now constituting the eastern states were annihilated or have melted away to make room for the whites. The waves of population and civilization are rolling to the westward, and we now propose to acquire the countries occupied by the red men of the South and West by a fair exchange, and, at the expense of the United States, to send them to a land where their existence may be prolonged and perhaps made perpetual.

Doubtless it will be painful to leave the graves of their fathers; but what do they more than our ancestors did or than our children are now doing? To better their condition in an unknown land our forefathers left all that was dear in earthly objects. Our children by thousands yearly leave the land of their birth to seek new homes in distant regions. Does humanity weep at these painful separations from everything, animate and inanimate, with which the young heart has become entwined? Far from it. It is rather a source of joy that our country affords scope where our young population may range unconstrained in body or in mind, developing the power and faculties of man in their highest perfection.

These remove hundreds and almost thousands of miles at their own expense, purchase the lands they occupy, and support themselves at their new homes from the moment of their arrival. Can it be cruel in this government when, by events which it cannot control, the Indian is made discontented in his ancient home to purchase his lands, to give him a new and extensive territory, to pay the expense of his removal, and support him a year in his new abode? How many thousands of our own people would gladly embrace the opportunity of removing to the West on such conditions! If the offers made to the Indians were extended to them, they would be hailed with gratitude and joy."

For Trump, it's all about Manifest Destiny, where political coercion, pressure and blackmail can be used to force the dissolution of a sovereign neighbour. It's also about American entitlement to Canadian lands with the benefit largely going to the acquirer. 

That's what the Trump Tariffs are really about. Make no mistake about it. It's about Trump's clear desire to acquire Canada by hook or by crook. Trump wants Canadians on bended knee, paying him homage. In Trump's mind, or at least what's left of it, it's a singular privilege bestowed on Canadians -- such a glorious invitation that no right-minded Canadian could refuse, at least from the American perspective.

So, think what you will as rational human beings about resolving this dispute but there are no chances of doing so while Trump is in office. Trump will not bend, backtrack, compromise or see reason. Some view an early or eventual renegotiation of CUSMA-USMCA as a possible out. In fact, sadly they're dreaming. If Trump does not get his way, he will simply do away with CUSMA within the next two years without replacement. That's the Trump Master Plan, so Canada and Mexico better be prepared for it. In Trump's mind, he can obviously win now or later -- but either way, the economic ruin of Canada is well on its way. As long as Trump remains in office, he will be an existential threat to Canadian sovereignty.