So, this is the Trumpocalypse. I didn’t really want to write anything about it, but that’s all anyone can talk about, so here’s the roundup. There have been a few different looks at how Trudeau’s cabinet shuffle was supposed to retool for the Trump era, but I will say that Maclean’s has one of the best ones, particularly because it doesn’t just focus on the shuffled ministers but also how Trudeau is redeploying his other ministers based on fascinations that the Americans have.

While people like Newt Gingrich have been saying that Canada will be “least affected” by changes to trade, what he seems to forget is that we’re as much a part of NAFTA as Mexico is, and that we’re likely to be hit with all manner of unintended blowback from other changes – especially on things like the “border tax” that Trump keeps talking about, and in places like our energy sector. Mind you, given the complexity of the problem, economist Jack Mintz doesn’t think that Trump’s border tax will actually end up happening.

https://twitter.com/mikepmoffatt/status/822544617195393024

https://twitter.com/kevinmilligan/status/822546358515142661

https://twitter.com/rolandparis/status/822538848576143360

https://twitter.com/mikepmoffatt/status/822537014167928837

And then there was the speech, with its talk of “American carnage” and “America First.” Colby Cosh questions some of the reviews given how terrible most inaugural speeches tend to be as they are geared more toward political signalling rather than oration. Andrew Coyne was struck by how paranoid and inward-looking it was. Scott Feschuk, meanwhile, gives you his satirical annotation of the speech.

Meanwhile, Stephen Saideman looks at how Trump’s real-estate agent behaviour will have great consequences internationally, while Ian Brodie reminds us that America had better do well under Trump or Canada will suffer. Patricia Treble finds a number of curious (if disturbing) parallels between Trump and Edward VIII. Paul Wells notes that the genius of the American Republic is that it won’t let one person accumulate too much power and that may yet save us all, while Scott Gilmore reminds us that America already went through this in the 1850s with populist demagogues, and that it will endure again.

This quote just popped into my head for some reason. pic.twitter.com/LEdoXKbFlC

— Stephen Maher (@stphnmaher) January 20, 2017

Good reads:

• Apparently, there were two previous leaks of naval information before VADM Norman was relieved.
• Kevin O’Leary’s donation record shows donations to Liberals in Canada and Democrats in the US, but not to the Conservative Party.
• Andrew Potter writes about O’Leary and the Conservative problem with jerk-courtiers.
• Andrew MacDougall examines the political calculations of Trudeau’s listening tour.
• Susan Delacourt contrasts Trudeau with Trump around the politics of fear.
• Terry Glavin admonishes both the left and right in Canada for constantly aping American political tactics, which hasn’t helped there and isn’t helping here.

Odds and ends:

Because we can’t get enough tut-tutting over the PM’s vacation, the plane trip created more carbon emissions than an average family does in a year.