Trump Is Obsessed with Control

Monday, March 17, 2025

This week from The Walrus:

Why Won’t Trump Shut Up about Canada?

The president sees us as standing in the way of plans for hemispheric dominance

BY DAVID MOSCROP

In a photo illustration, the shadow of Donald Trump falls over a map of Canada.

It’s easy to mock Trump, just as it’s easy to respond to his madness with boos and boycotts and counter tariffs, all of which we ought to welcome. But if we take Trump both seriously and literally, the president’s manoeuvres make terrifying sense. Trump is obsessed with control—and loyalty. In the early 2000s, ahead of the US invasion of Iraq, George W. Bush adopted a Manichaean world view in which individuals and states were either with his country or “with the terrorists.” Trump has expanded this view to include any policy or strategic goal he deems as essential to US security, well‐being, and supremacy: from defence spending to trade to border security and beyond. And he’s willing to torch relationships, alliances, norms, and anything else that gets in the way of his designs or his conception of fair dealing between countries.

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A photo of Mark Carney looking surprised while people around him hold up small Canadian flags and red signs with his name.

Carney Won the Battle. Can He Win the War?

Appealing to millions of voters is a lot different than getting a bunch of registered Liberals to like you

BY COLIN HORGAN

The Bay store in downtown Winnipeg, at Portage Avenue and Memorial Boulevard, in 1973.

From the Archives: Why Hudson’s Bay Company’s Future Is in Question

HBC saw its start during London’s bubonic plague and might see its end in the aftermath of COVID‐19’s retail devastation

BY DON GILLMOR

A photo illustration featuring a close up of Big Bird's face.

They Sold Out Big Bird, and They’ll Sell Out the Rest of Us Too

The spirit of uplift that gave us Sesame Street, the CBC, and public schools is under threat

BY IRA WELLS

A blue standard male sex symbol with its arrow curving down.

Men Are Playing “Russian Roulette” with Black‐Market Sex Drugs

Risking heart attacks for better erections

BY HARLEY RUSTAD

A photo illustration showing a person lying down in green surgical srubs. Several hands holding surgical instruments appear to be pulling a gold credit card from their body.

Need a Knee Replacement? You Can Get It at the Mall

Canadians are paying to jump the surgical wait list. It’s unravelling the fabric of public health care

BY MONICA KIDD

A woman smiles at her reflection in the mirror as sun from the window shines on her.

The Never‐Ending Scrutiny of Being in an Aging Body

What is growing old but becoming who you are?

BY CATHRIN BRADBURY

A black-and-white photo of a group of men in suits, several rows deep, crowding around a sole woman sitting on a couch with two other men.

The Businesswoman at the Centre of a Mining Scandal That Rocked the Stock Market

When Bay Street went wild over rumours about a hole in the ground in northern Ontario

BY TIM FALCONER

An illustration in dark greens, blues and burgundy of a woman looking up at a house.

Forest Hill Gothic

I watched as a wrinkled hand reached out of the basement window

BY CASSIDY MCFADZEAN

Have you played Word Flower?

Using the given letters, find as many words as possible that are 4 letters long
Enter the letters by either clicking on the flower petals or by typing out the letters
Each word must include the letter in the centre
Special points if you find the pangram—a word that uses all the letter
Can’t find the next word? Shuffle the letters or ask for a hint

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The growing trend of social isolation is one of the major challenges our world faces today. Studies show that the “loneliness epidemic” is causing significant harm to our physical and mental health and contributing to the troubling rise of polarization.

Join us, in Toronto or online, for The Walrus Talks Reimagining Volunteerism, where speakers look at the power of volunteerism to build shared purpose, individual agency, and community cohesion.

Join us

Promises Unkept: Treaty 8 and the Battle for Indigenous Rights

125 years after Treaty 8 was signed, many promises to Canada’s northern First Nations remain unmet. In this episode, Charmaine Willier‐Larsen, a descendant of a Treaty 8 signatory, discusses her journey to reconnect with her heritage. Grand Chief Trevor Mercredi of Treaty 8 First Nations of Alberta sheds light on the treaty’s unfulfilled promises, ongoing systemic barriers, and the fight to uphold Indigenous rights.

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This week on What Happened Next, host Nathan Whitlock is joined by author and journalist Jowita Bydlowska. Her most recent book is the novel Monster, which was published by Anvil Press in 2024. Jowita and Nathan talk about the identity crisis she is currently undergoing as a writer, about the weirdly personal criticism she received for the revelations in her debut memoir, and about why she doesn’t expect the same reaction when she publishes her next book (also a memoir).

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THE WALRUS THANKS ALL OUR ADVERTISERS. BECOME ONE.

If you answered yes, you are not alone. Democracy and civil dialogue are in retreat around the world. In the past few weeks, we have been forced into a tariff war, seen the death of diplomacy on live TV, heard threats of Canada becoming the 51st state of the United States, and have felt ripple effects of axed international aid, public health, and immigration changes well beyond our borders. At best, these are confusing and worrying times. At worst, the future of civil society is at stake.

At The Walrus, we have never been more committed to fact‐checked, paywall‐free reporting on Canada. These are no ordinary times, and we need your help. Support The Walrus with a donation today so that we can continue to deliver independent journalism that responds to and makes sense of the most critical issues at hand.

Jennifer Hollett
Executive Director, The Walrus

Yes, I’ll help

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