08-05-2025
The Trump administration's cuts to the U.S. State Department are a threat to Canada
Robert Bothwell and John English are Canadian historians working on an oral political history project about the 1990s and early 2000s.
Donald Trump's war on the American public service, demonstrated by proposed savage cuts to the State Department and other government entities, is endangering not only the operations of the American state, but also the foundations of Canadian-American relations. Leaked documents and public statements coming from the White House show that distance is purposely being put between the U.S. and Canada, representing an unparalleled threat not seen for more than a century. A relationship that worked well for generations no longer will. Canadians should be as terrified as the American diplomats and public servants facing dismissal by Mr. Trump's minions.
Canadian-American relations have not always run smoothly. In the 1960s, president John F. Kennedy loathed prime minister John Diefenbaker. Lyndon Johnson, Kennedy's successor, developed a deep dislike of Diefenbaker's successor, Lester Pearson. Pearson, a son of a Methodist manse, and Johnson, a rough-edged and foul-mouthed Texan, shared liberal values but little else. When Pearson decided to cautiously suggest that the United States should temporarily pause its bombing of North Vietnam in April, 1965, Johnson exploded. Summoning Pearson to Camp David, the presidential retreat, Johnson is purported to have dragged Pearson out onto a terrace and harangued him, shouting: 'You don't come here and piss on my rug.' They never made up.
As U.S. military activity in Vietnam went on, Canadian public opinion turned against the war. American draft dodgers flowed freely across the border, and universities seethed with student rebellion. Canadian anti-Americanism, so long subdued since Pearl Harbor and the Second World War, suddenly erupted. In 1968, London, Ont., artist Greg Curnoe released five large-scale, text-based paintings in a series called The True North Strong and Free. One painting, emblazoned with the words 'Close the 49th parallel,' became the cover art for a collection of essays published in 1970 by prominent academics condemning Canada's close relationship with the U.S. That same year, Winnipeg's The Guess Who released their classic song American Woman, featuring the lyrics 'Stay away from me.' It was, according to band member Randy Bachman, 'an anti-war protest song,' conceived while performing on American stages.
Astonishingly, the Canadian-American diplomatic relationship maintained its efficiency and effectiveness throughout the 1960s and 1970s. That was because diplomatic professionals on both sides of the border believed that Canada-U.S. interests transcended what they hoped were temporary differences. Their co-operation led to the creation of a 'Canada desk' within the U.S. State Department, to facilitate the expanding relationship. One Canadian academic, Greg Donaghy, chose the title Tolerant Allies for his detailed study of Canadian-American relations during the 1960s, published in 2002. His argument is convincing.
Last month, The New York Times reported that the State Department's Canada desk is set to be subsumed into a North American affairs office with a 'significantly reduced team,' and a shrunken embassy in Ottawa. This is an ominous development. It follows the Trump administration's closure of the Canada Institute at the Wilson Center, which served as a forum to discuss Canadian issues in D.C.
Since the Pearson years and, particularly, after the Canada-U.S. free-trade agreement was signed in 1989, the relationship between the two countries has become more complex and intricate, requiring constant adaptation from officials. Whenever there have been disagreements, notably when Canada did not join the United States in the Iraq war, officials in various departments assured each other that those differences did not affect trade and other ties between the two nations. Conversely, when terrorists attacked the United States in 2001, the extensive links between Canadian and American officials assured a joint response.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has refuted reports that the State Department has done away with the Canada desk, despite a new organizational chart he released showing the lack of a North American affairs team. Nevertheless, dramatic proposed cuts to State Department staffing, Mr. Trump's repeated comment that he wants to 'annex' Canada, and a separate report suggesting that all but one consulate in Canada could be closed, all point to growing animosity.
Isolating Canada within the State Department, cutting the number of officials dealing with bilateral issues, closing consulates, and reducing the American embassy in Ottawa to a functional office are markers usually found among nations preparing for conflict. Such an event still seems inconceivable, but some signs are there: Canadians are beginning to shun the United States; Americans are contemplating relocation to Canada or any other friendly country – friendly to individual citizens, that is, but not to the regime they are fleeing. A Canadian statesman once remarked that Canada had the great fortune of existing in North America: 'A fireproof house, far from inflammable materials.' We do not think he would say that today.
