NPR.

It has been an emotional couple of weeks for us Canadians.

Oh, Robert Smith. I know you were born north of the border, but you've been in the U.S. a while now.

More than 30 years, but Donald Trump's strange beef with my homeland is bringing out the gentle snow person that was living inside of me.

I could not believe that he started out his administration with a 25% tariff on the sweet, sweet country of Canada.

Then he suddenly suspends it.

Then he said it was going forward.

Did I imagine this whole thing?

And then Trump started to talk about Canada as the 51st state, which just made me and

most other Canadians furious.

I mean, you're describing denial, anger.

It's like you're going through the stages of grief.

Okay.

You know, I have definitely been bargaining thinking maybe this is a negotiating ploy for something.

And I am depressed about the whole thing.

So are you here today to tell us you've moved to the fifth stage of grief?

Are you at acceptance of Canada as the 51st state? Hell no. You can pry the maple leaf flag from my cold,

dead hands. Well, I mean, a Canadian's hands are always cold, but you understand. It ain't

gonna happen.

This is Vindicator from Planet Money. I'm Whalen Wong here with grieving and aggrieved,

Connuck, Robert Smith. Today on the show, we flip the Trumpian script. Rather than drop rhetorical

bombs, perhaps we should drop some knowledge about how linked our economies

...