the bridge is invaluable to canada.
and i live here. i'm happy to see detroit continue to transform into a nature reserve. i have no opposition to throwing more money at detroit. not at all.
that said, while trump may not have gained anything substantive and it might be optics, there's still a lesson to learn from this process. it seems like the agreement that showed up in writing was not the same thing that was agreed to verbally. that seems to be the process that donald trump uses, unfortunately: he tricks you into agreeing to something, then changes the terms in the contract. he calls that "the art of the deal". it sounds like nogoodnick thieving and scheming, to me. he's a dirty fucking scoundrel. he's a lying, no good piece of shit. he's somebody that you wouldn't do business with at all, if you weren't forced to.
nobody should agree to anything with donald trump ever, unless it's presented in writing first. that would certainly apply to any kind of free trade deal.
participants should predict that attempts to isolate parties are exactly that; the trump administration will key on you, single you out, separate you from your peers and try to take advantage of you, if it thinks you're weak. agreements made verbally with isolated parties will not be upheld in writing, but key changes will be made in the details of the contracts.
this is a historic break from america's post world war two role as the policeman of the world to america's new role as the pirate gang leader of the world. america is making new friends in it's new role and losing old friends in it. canada needs to watch what it signs with this new america.