Tony Volk is a professor of child and youth studies at Brock University.
Life has taught Donald Trump the benefits of behaving badly.
Because of (not despite) his classic schoolyard-bully behaviour, the billionaire has been twice elected U.S. President, led a long-standing reality TV series and had five children with three women – all of them models.
His aggressive tactics have, in many ways, made him a winner. And now, his sights are set on Canada.
So, what can the country do to avoid becoming Mr. Trump’s next great conquest?
As someone who has spent two decades trying to understand adolescent bullies and adults with seriously dark personalities, I have some advice to offer.
The first step to navigating this behaviour is recognizing the motives behind it.
Sex was probably once an important driver for Mr. Trump, as it is with many bullies, but that probably matters less these days. However, like many bullies, money almost certainly remains near the top of his priorities.
But I would argue that attention, popularity and social status – also primary bullying motives – are what matter most to him. This is further amplified by our research that found Mr. Trump to be narcissistic. Status and personal image are of critical importance to the man who once said, “Show me someone without an ego, and I’ll show you a loser.”
With these motives identified, Canada can make smart moves, recognizing that politically, we are in a new game. Mr. Trump has shifted diplomacy from co-operation to coercion – as demonstrated by the trade war and talks of Canada as the 51st state.
Coercion relies on strength, which Mr. Trump seems to respect more than kindness. We’ve seen him show praise for dictators and even call Ontario Premier Doug Ford a “strong man” after his U.S. electricity threats. Canada should be ready to make serious threats, and to stand strong and united while acting on them.
Canadians must stay angry and united. This will allow our politicians to make the necessary threats that a coercive bully respects. Write your local, provincial and federal representatives to let them know you support a strong stand.
And take that belief with you to the polls. With the federal election on the horizon, Canadians must put their support behind a leader who will fight to maintain the country’s sovereignty and show no fear or vacillation.
But it’s not about simply making bold threats. It’s about doing it in a way that allows Mr. Trump to preserve face and status.
Bullies don’t like being forced to publicly back down or admit defeat, which removes the power they’ve worked to establish. Painted into a corner, they’re more likely to retaliate to reaffirm their dominance.
Politicians should make every reasonable effort to publicly defer to Mr. Trump’s desire for status, leaving their threats for backroom conversations. We’ve seen, through Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky’s disastrous Oval Office meeting, why this is necessary.
We can urge Mr. Trump toward change without insulting him personally by, for example, referring to his standout negotiations in United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) or his best-selling book on making deals. Another means would be blaming some of his policies on bad advice from others, like White House trade adviser Peter Navarro.
If the U.S. market continues to fall, so will the number of Americans boosting Mr. Trump. Losing love from American voters and business leaders pushed Mr. Trump to pause his reciprocal tariffs. When unified, our wallets can have a powerful impact.
If consumers target swing states and companies or states with powerful Republican voices, the impact is more likely to be heard loud and clear. Plenty of Republicans are unhappy with Mr. Trump’s tariffs and his policies; we have to provide room for them to object without expecting them to make suicidal direct challenges against the party bully.
The good news is Mr. Trump isn’t motivated by a deep ideology like some past demagogues. He’s a transactional bully with transparent interests. These aren’t the easiest traits in a neighbour, but research argues they make for very strong and predictable pathways for behavioural influence.
In public, Canadian political and business leaders should treat Mr. Trump’s desire for Canada as the 51st state as a compliment, praise his unheralded capacity for change, marvel at his political survivability and blame policies we don’t like on people around him. Project credible strength, but don’t personally insult the President or leave him without an off-ramp that preserves (or better yet, strengthens) his ego.
With strategy in mind and strength at its helm, Canada can take on the bully next door and learn to navigate these choppy waters as if they were turbulent high school corridors.