The High Cost Of Mouthing Off

There’s a price to be paid for being a complete jackass and pissing off one’s friends. On Tuesday, President Shitforbrains was doing an interview with Faux News host Laura Ingram when he said, “I deal with every country, indirectly or directly. One of the nastiest countries to deal with is Canada. Canada was meant to be the 51st state because we subsidize Canada by $200 billion a year.” Once again, the US Idiot in Chief was grossly over-exaggerating. The U.S. trade deficit with Canada, according to the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office, is placed at $63.3 billion for 2024.

The President has been spouting this kind of nonsense since he took office in January. He’s also been saying unkind things about NATO and our European allies. Questioning the value of the long-standing NATO alliance has caused considerable worry among European countries who feel they may be the target of Russian aggression if the US is not there to help protect them.

Now, both Canada and the EU are looking at options that could prove expensive for US defense contractors. Amid escalating tensions with the United States, the Canadian military said it is actively re-evaluating its $19 billion order with Lockheed Martin for 88 F-35 fighter jets. As part of the evaluation, the size of the order could be reduced or eliminated. Either way, Lockheed Martin is likely to be the loser in this scenario.

“At this time, the contract to purchase the F-35 remains in place and Canada has made a legal commitment of funds for the first 16 aircraft. The Prime Minister has also asked the Minister of National Defence to work with CAF/DND [Canadian Armed Forces/Department of National Defence] to determine if the F-35 contract, as it stands, is the best investment for Canada, and if there are other options that could better meet Canada’s needs,” Laurent de Casanove, press secretary for Canadian defense minister Bill Blair.

In response to the Canadians’ comments, Lockheed Martin said the company “values our strong partnership and history with the Royal Canadian Air Force and looks forward to continuing that partnership into the future. The F-35 is the most advanced, survivable and connected fighter aircraft in the world, enabling 21st Century Security and allied deterrence.”

Uhm, yeah. Be sure that bottom-line-focused executives at Lockheed Martin are doubling up on their whiskey orders this afternoon, because not only are they likely to lose at least part of the Canadian contract, but any sales to European countries may have just died as well.

The European Union on Wednesday announced a new drive to break its security dependency on the United States, with a focus on buying more defense equipment in Europe. Under the strategy, member countries will be urged to buy much of their military equipment in Europe, working mostly with European suppliers — in some cases with the EU’s help to cut prices and speed up orders. They should only purchase equipment from abroad when costs, performance, or supply delays make it preferable.

“The security architecture that we relied on can no longer be taken for granted,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. “We must buy more European. Because that means strengthening the European defense, technological and industrial base. That means stimulating innovation. And that means creating an EU-wide market for defense equipment.”

Andrius Kubilius, the EU’s recently appointed and first-ever defense commissioner, warned that “450 million European Union citizens should not have to depend on 340 million Americans to defend ourselves.”

This could be a boon for European defense companies such as Saab, whose Griffin fighter is similar to the F-35 from a pure bomber perspective. While the Griffin does not have all the flexibilities of the F-35 fleet, it is certainly capable of upholding the bulk of Europe’s air defense needs. EU nations are also encouraged to boost security ties with NATO allies that are not members of the EU, including Britain, Canada, Norway, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and India.

For their part, Lana Payne, the national president of Unifor, Canada’s largest private sector union, said, “There is palpable anger over the multiple tariff threats and threats against our very sovereignty with the repeated assertation that Canada should become the 51st state. Canadians are coming together and fighting back in ways they can, and the easiest way to do that is to support the buying of things made in Canada.”

The more the President talks in negative terms about our closest allies, the more the United States becomes isolated, a condition that could make matters difficult should relationships with China and/or Russia turn sour. Tourism in the US is already taking a hit because no one wants to risk being here. Much more rhetoric of this kind could cause the US to appear as a vulnerable takeover target.

The petulant child in the White House needs to be gagged.