OPINION: A letter of Concern for Our Neighbors to the South…

Dear Neighbours to the South,

We in the North are increasingly worried about you, since your leaders seem to have lost the plot on foreign policy.

The clearest evidence can be seen in the war with Iran – where “peace“ has been declared at least a dozen times by President Trump, only to be followed by a continuation of the war. He has also given the Iranians “one last chance“ several times, and yet recently threatened to “annihilate“ the population. Not too clear a strategy.

The cost of the war has ballooned out of control – so far over $47 billion – with no end in sight.

But there are other areas where we are concerned for your wellbeing.

At first, we thought that President Trump was joking when he wanted to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico (established in the 1550s) to the Gulf of America. We were wrong.

Then he changed Lake Ontario into Lake America – rejecting a name given by the Indigenous population some 400 years ago. Now he is considering changing the name of the Atlantic Ocean.

The determination to annex Greenland caused further concern. In 1826 the US recognized Greenland as a possession of Denmark, but in 2026 President Trump said that he would “do something“ about Greenland, “whether they like it or not.“ We are glad to see that an arrangement – increasing US military bases – has arrived.

The capture of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro in January 2026 – seen by many as an illegal kidnapping – showed a disregard for international law.

President Trump says that he is firmly opposed to “narco terrorists.“ Why, then, did he pardon former President Hernández of Honduras, who had been sentenced to 45 years of imprisonment by US courts for his plans to import 400 tons of cocaine into the United States? 

The blind support of your president for Israeli leader Netanyahu (facing criminal charges for bribery and fraud in Israel and wanted by the International Criminal Court on a charge of war crimes) seems very bizarre.

While not much is said about it any more in US media, evidence clearly shows that US bombs on a girls’ primary school in February killed 175 children in Iran. The UN condemned this as a grave violation of international law. What would the US rection be if Iranians did the same in the US?

President Trump’s favourite word – tariffs – has not been a roaring commercial success, as many companies abroad have simply passed on their costs to American consumers. Moreover, US courts have ordered much of the money obtained through tariffs to be repaid.

We here in Canada are also feeling unhappy about threats to annex us and turn us into the 51^st state. Please don’t bring this up again – we are quite happy as we are.

Mexican President Sheinbaum, leader of your other USMCA partner, has consistently rejected US plans to station American military on Mexican soil and has also condemned US policy toward Cuba. Instead, Mexico has sent six ships of aid to Cuba.

President Trump has (incredibly) termed Cuba “an unusual and extraordinary threat“ to US national security. He has stated that he could do whatever he wants there and has introduced a fuel blockade, sanctions on nations dealing with Cuba, as well as threatening military invasion.

I wonder if he saw the recent condemnation of the US policy there by the UN Human Rights Council, or the condemnation by 130 countries of the US embargo of the island.

President Trump once boasted that he could end the war in Ukraine in a matter of days, but there is no end in sight. What went wrong? We think (but are not sure) that he supports President Zelenskyy – although he still maintains close ties with Russian leader Putin. 

Recently President Trump requested support from allies to assist the planned US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz (which he has renamed “Trump Strait“). Not a single member of NATO or the European Union was willing to support him and all reject his policy there.

Talking of controlling the Hormuz situation, your gas prices will show how well that has gone.

US prestige has fallen across the world as bully diplomacy has become established. A June 2026 Pew Research Center poll of some 42,000 people in 36 countries found that only 23% expressed confidence in Trump’s leadership of world affairs.

That’s very sad.

In sum, we are concerned that the traditional “leader of the Free World“ is now clearly without many friends. Has America First become America Alone under President Trump?

International rules-based systems, based on mutual respect (and not invading other countries), are important – and we worry if some of your leaders have forgotten the need to follow these.

Please see this as a supportive “wellness check.“ We in Canada, like many in the international community, are worried about you and the rapidly rising international concern that “something is just not right“ with your leaders and their limited grasp on foreign relations. We hope that you can figure this out before it is too late for you, and the rest of the world.