Trump dismisses Canada-EU alliance talk as tensions reshape North American ties

In the autumn of 2026, a transatlantic idea once unthinkable in North American politics — Canada drawing closer to the European Union — was met with public ridicule by Donald Trump, who called it laughable. The moment captures something older than any single administration: the tension between a smaller nation's desire for self-determination and the gravitational pull of a powerful neighbor. Canada, having already rebuffed Trump's suggestion that it become the 51st state, now finds itself navigating a rare and uncomfortable space between continental obligation and continental reinvention.