I posted this early this morning-it had been shared 1550 and suddenly it’s gone. No word from Facebook nothing. Something nefarious-I have been banning people by the hour. Someone complained?
If you want to know who Donald Trump wants running Canada, look no further, because he just made it crystal clear.
The “51st state” comment? That wasn’t a slip. It was a message, strategic, intentional, and deliberately revived. And it didn’t come out yesterday, it came last week, when Trump’s press secretary, Carolyn Leavitt (yes, the one with the smug, deadpan delivery of a Stepford intern), made sure to remind us that the Trump–Carney phone call never really went away.
This wasn’t a leak. It was a move because Trump needs a win. He told the world he’d fix Putin in 24 hours, that he’d solve the Middle East in a week, and he had “a great relationship” with Xi Jinping. And what has he delivered? Nothing but chaos and campaign hats. He needs an easy victory. Something symbolic. Something he can frame as dominance.
Enter: Canada. To Trump, we’re low-hanging fruit. And he wants someone sitting in the Prime Minister’s Office who will let him pluck that fruit without a fuss. That someone is Pierre Poilievre.
Let’s not kid ourselves. Trump sees Poilievre as manageable, a smart-mouth lightweight with a desperate need to win and a flexible relationship with facts. Poilievre doesn’t intimidate Trump. He excites him because he’s someone who’ll trade sovereignty for applause.
Now let’s talk about the man Trump doesn’t want to deal with: Mark Carney. Carney is no pushover. He has run not one, but two central banks. He’s stared down financial crises. He’s negotiated at the global table. And here’s what really matters: he can’t be manipulated. Trump sees that, and it makes him nervous. Because Carney plays chess. Trump plays checkers, blindfolded, with a marker.
But here’s where the contrast gets really real.
Mark Carney faced the press yesterday, and it was not pretty. He stood there, took the questions, and didn’t flinch. He didn’t dodge, didn’t hide, didn’t throw out talking points or disappear behind a staffer. It was uncomfortable. It was raw. And he showed up anyway.
Meanwhile, Pierre Poilievre continues to run his campaign like a high-security bunker.
He controls messaging with the same clenched fist Stephen Harper once did, and let’s not pretend we don’t remember how that went. Conservative candidates across the country are refusing to speak to the media. Why? Because they’ve been told not to. This isn’t speculation, this is happening in real time. Today. In 2025. This is how it works when messaging is centralized, and democracy is optional. This is how it worked under Harper. It’s how it would work under Poilievre. And honestly? It annoys the hell out of me to turn on my TV and see that ad. You know the one. Stephen Harper, staring down the camera, said: I employed two people who are running in this election: Mark Carney and Pierre Poilievre. Only one of them I’d hire again. And every time I see it, I want to yell at the screen: Then why didn’t you promote Pierre? Why did you sideline him for a decade? Because what Stephen Harper did do was nominate Mark Carney for the Order of Canada. And now we’re supposed to believe Carney isn’t qualified, but Pierre is?
It’s gaslighting at scale. And a disturbing number of people are buying it.
So I want to speak directly to a specific group here:
If you’re undecided but leaning Liberal, does this shift anything for you?
This question isn’t for the forever-Poilievre crowd, and it’s not for people like me who are already solidly in Carney’s corner. This is for those of you still sitting on the edge of the diving board.
Do you see it now? The media manipulation. The foreign influence. The fear Trump has of a smart Canadian leader who won’t kiss his ring? Because this isn’t about a phrase. It’s about who’s holding the pins, and who’s holding the strings. Donald Trump doesn’t want Mark Carney leading Canada. And frankly, that tells me everything I need to know.
So ask yourself this: do you want the Prime Minister who Donald Trump can control, or the one he’s terrified of? Because I’ll tell you right now: If Trump wants a puppet, he hopes we pick Pierre. But if Canada wants a Prime Minister, we better pick Mark.
Three days. Eyes wide open. Don’t let the curtain close on this country.
Nancy's Notes 